Wildfire: Benevolent Renegade
by Catalyst Spark
Summary: A daredevil redhead thinks she's just going for a simple country ride when a minor accident drops her into the Transformers' path. Now she'll get an experience she never bargained for. IronhidexOC. Warning: Strong language/Violence/suggestive scenes.
1. Point of no return

Title: **Benevolent Renegade**  
Category: Movies » Transformers  
Author: Catalyst Spark  
Language: English, Rating: Rated: M  
Genre: Adventure/Humor  
Published: 03-30-10, Updated: 03-30-10  
Chapters: 1, Words: 13,992

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**Chapter 1: Chapter 1**

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Things were not easy, they never were, but on this morning, the start of the rest of her life, the air itself held a heavy feel, the alarm clock that was once resting upon her table was some where's half way across the room, having been thrown in a fit of annoyance at it's shrill beeping, the tall red head sitting at the edge of her bed, hair wild from the night's sleep, crimson red tangles flopping over her face and falling a third of the way down her back, redder than anything natural could be, but she didn't care if others could tell it was dyed, the unnatural tone suited her well enough. Goosebumps covered her long arms, causing the scars marking them to tingle uncomfortable, mentally cursing herself for having forgotten to turn on the heater the night before, she unfolded herself from her seated position, standing to her full height a little too quickly, causing her head to have a rough meeting with the light fixture of her room and exciting an annoyed hiss from her lips and causing her hazel eyes to narrow as she glared at the offensive fixture. It was obvious, she was certainly not a morning person.

Once she had shaken off her annoyance with the light fixture, which she made a mental note to change out for something a little more friendly for her height, she made her way to the bathroom to try to tame the mop that was currently her hair, a battle she would likely not win, but she could at least attempt it. She stopped in front of the mirror once she was inside, sighing a bit seeing her reflection. She knew it and always admitted it, she was nothing above average in anything but her height. Her skin pale with scars here and there from her rough past, her features sharp and, to some, a bit intimidating, a face which rarely wore a smile, a small spiked labret under her lower lip, one of the few appearance altering things she had ever done, eyes deep set, though this was normally unnoticeable behind her glasses. Her body itself was odd, she had an hourglass shape, but it was not near as slender as most women, her bust large enough to get in her way, waist narrowed sharply only to move to wide hips just as suddenly, her frame itself was wide despite her hourglass shape, giving her a slightly dangerous looking build, then came three feet of leg, all of this on a woman who stood six feet and one inch barefoot to begin with. She often tried not to pay mind to it all, it had always bothered her to a degree, that her body shape was so unique, but she pushed it back, appearances were something she preferred not to spend too much time worrying about, as she knew how insane it drove most women and she would be damned if she was about to become obsessive with her looks. She was good enough, not fashion model material, but she didn't look half bad either, if you got beyond the whole fact that she just looked like she could throw someone.

Once her hair and morning routine, though it was more of a get in, do what needs doing, get out type of routine, was done she made her way to grab whatever the hell was still clean to wear, grabbing just a pair of camouflage pants, baggy as hell, and a black muscle shirt, it wasn't the latest fashion, but it was comfortable. Half way through dressing she heard her cell ringing, blaring out whatever classic rock song she had decided to put as her ringtone this month, she all but jumped for the phone on her table, knowing people never called unless it was important, anything not urgent was taken care of in text messages. She opened the flip phone as soon as it was in her hand, tapping the mouthpiece with a fingernail a few times to let the other party know she was there and listening, sure enough, she heard the panicked voice of her friend on the other side.

"Vi! Oh thank goodness you answered, look, I need a ride. . ."

The redhead gave a heavy sigh in response, tapping the mouthpiece once more to prompt her friend to continue.

"OK, so, my boyfriend called and said I need to meet him at the hospital, said it was really important but didn't say what happened, I mean, he called, so that means he's alright, but I'm still worried and my car's busted, think you can give me a ride? Please Vic? I swear I'll make it up to you!"

Victoria merely rolled her eyes, slapping her hand against her forehead, the impact of which the phone likely picked up before she gave the mouthpiece a rapid series of five taps, something her friend would know as a yes.

"Thanks Vi! You're the best, I'll be waiting outside!"

She nodded, though knowing her friend couldn't see it, and snapped the phone shut with an eye roll before dropping the device into her pocket and finishing dressing, making a grab for her hiking boots before jamming them on and heading for the door, grabbing her leather wallet and keys and making her way to her bike, her pride and joy, a 1980 Honda Gold Wing, Interstate edition, painted in deep crimson with a blue phoenix airbrushed front on both sides, a bike she spent two years rebuilding and a month painting, it was her baby, and if so much as a scratch ended up on that custom paint job, heads were going to roll. She wasted no time getting on and starting the beloved bike, a smirk sneaking across her lips as the engine roared to life, a smirk caused by pride that she brought this bike from being a piece of junk used for spare parts to the beautiful beast it was now, but, unless she wanted her friend to give a fuss about how long it took her to get there, she'd just have to wait to admire her work until later. She clicked on the radio, turning it up as Van Halen's 'Humans Being' came over the speakers and tore out of the driveway, heading right to her best, and likely most annoying, friend's house.

It didn't take her long to get there, not the way she drove at least, and sure enough there was her little blond haired friend standing on the patio, hair all done up in something far more complex than Victoria would even dare to attempt, makeup painted onto her features and, as always, her short friend was jumping up and down waving like a woman deranged as soon as she saw the redhead pull up. She didn't even cut the engine before her friend came bounding up to her with a smile way too cheerful for this hour of the morning, this prompted the redhead to just sit up a bit on the bike, cross her arms over her oversized chest and quirk an eyebrow at the blond girl. So maybe Sara wasn't that short, she was about average height for a woman, but to Victoria, she still was about armrest height, it never failed to amuse the redhead just how odd of a pair they were, the bouncy, energetic, talkative ex-cheerleading captain and the amazon of a redhead who had a weapons collection which would make most men cringe and, again the complete opposite of her lively friend who talked all the time, Victoria was unable to speak, having been rendered mute due to a freak accident that damaged her vocal cords.

"Oh don't look at me like that Vi!" Her bouncy friend's voice snapping her from her thoughts "I know that look, and I know you're just doing it to mess with me, now come on, lets get going!" the blond said before jumping onto the back of the bike, Victoria just looked over her shoulder at Sara expectantly, once more raising an eyebrow.

"What?! I didn't scratch your baby, don't worry!"

To this the redhead just sighed, shaking her head and reaching back behind her and over her friend to get to the bike's saddle bag, opening it and pulling out a helmet, lightly shoving it into Sara's lap before closing the saddlebag once more, and sure enough, as if on cue. . .

"What?! You're not wearing one, why do you always make me put on a helmet when you never wear one you hypocrite!?"

The only reaction from the redhead would be a heavy sigh and a face palm.

"Fine, fine, I'll wear it, cause I know you won't budge until I do!" Sara said as she put the helmet on on too careful, likely trying to avoid messing up her hair Victoria mused. "There! You happy?" The blond fussed, to which Vic simply nodded before gunning the engine and taking off, this prompting a screech from her passenger as the smaller blond clinched her arms around Victoria's waist, holding on for dear life by the feel of it, Victoria couldn't help but smirk, giving a soundless chuckle.

"I swear you drive like a fucking madwoman! How you haven't either totaled this thing or got yourself killed is beyond me." Sara shouted over the noise of the wind and the music blaring from the motorcycle's speakers. Victoria just shrugged as she tore down the road towards her destination. They were there within a matter of minutes, half due to the fact it wasn't that far, and half due to the fact that the driver was a speed demon.

As soon as she came to a complete stop in front of the hospital, Sara got off the bike and ripped the helmet off her head, glaring daggers at the redhead, who just smirked, her friend was simply darling when she was upset, and then came the lecture she expected, Sara never did disappoint.

"What the hell is WRONG with you!? You ran like every red light on the way here, I know it's six in the morning but still! There's still some traffic! And you peeling out at the one red light you did stop at! What are you? TRYING to get us both killed?! You're fucking nuts Vi, I swear, one of these days you're going to get yourself killed driving like that! You. . .you. . . . ." Sara just stopped when she saw Vic pull out the little notepad and pen she kept with her for communication, as soon as she finished writing she held it out for Sara to read ~'You're so cute when you're pissed.'~ As soon as she read the message, the blond looked absolutely fuming! "Oh you're hopeless, I swear! Crazy ass redheaded bitch!" To this Victoria just shrugged, signing 'thank you' to her irate friend.

Sara just sighed, shaking her head and handing the helmet back to Vic, who promptly moved to place it back in the saddlebag, when next the blonde spoke, she sounded a bit calmer, that's one thing she had to give her old friend, she did get her temper under control quickly, she had plenty of practice dealing with her daredevil stunts after all "Look Vi, just, be careful alright? You're my best friend, I don't want you getting injured or worse, I'd completely freak if something happened to you, stubborn and mean as you can be sometimes, you're still a great friend, just, promise me you'll go the speed limit, at least until you hit city limits, alright? Cause I know you're going to take your country ride today, like you do every Saturday. Just promise me you'll be careful alright?"

Victoria gave her friend a small half smile, nodding and reaching out to grasp her friend's hand for their old form of farewell, a brief, but firm grasp and upwards tug, which the redhead normally used to tug her friend into a hug, and as to not disappoint, she did just that, giving her shorter friend a quick hug before motioning to the door with a nod.

"Yea, you're right, I need to go check on Jason, I'll see you later alright! Going to get his mom to drive me home. Later Vi!" With that, off her friend went, leaving Vic shaking her head a bit before she began on her way again, heading towards the city limits, not running the red lights this time, well, not running as many of them at least.

She loved these Saturday country drives, they reminded her of home a bit, she wasn't always a city girl, quite the opposite in fact, she grew up in the country, going horse back riding every weekend on the lovely overo paint she raised from a filly, taking to the dirt trails in the woods, just her and her horse, nothing but the woods around them, peace and quiet, plenty of time to think without worrying about being interrupted, sure, the horse she rode now was of the steel variety, but it was still a bit of peace, an escape from this small town of Tranquility, even though it wasn't too loud here, it still grated on her nerves from time to time. She was almost out of the city limits, already getting lost in thought and memories when she heard it.

The heart wrenching sound of screeching tires.

She had barely managed to react, swerving away from the neon yellow hummer that was skidding to a stop, though she hadn't managed to swerve quite enough, the front bumper catching the back tire of her bike with just enough force to cause her to fishtail and lose full control, causing her bike to start going horizontal as she fought to regain control of the machine, but to no avail, she knew it now, this was going to be one wicked case of road rash.

As quickly as it started, it finished, she had failed to get her bike upright before she made contact with the road, her bike was now laying on it's side, frame pinning her foot as she tried to move to lift the bike from her foot and free herself, she paused a mere moment, smelling the undeniable smell of fuel, her eyes narrowing a little at the realization before moving her other, unpinned leg to the side of the seat and pushing the bike up a bit, she hadn't even heard if the door to the other vehicle had opened, but she guessed it had as soon there was someone else at her side, moving to help her lift the bike so she could free her foot. With the other's assistance she was soon free of the motorcycle and being pulled back from the wreck by what she assumed was the other vehicle's driver. It wasn't long at all before they finally spoke up.  
"Are you alright?" came the voice, a mature, soothingly calm male voice, she turned to look up at the speaker, half amazed her glasses were still on her face through all of that, she paused a moment when she saw him however.

He was tall, slightly shaggy but neat brown hair, a slim face, small goatee on his chin, and glasses, behind which were the most vibrant blue eyes she had ever seen. He was of a slender but toned build, a button up shirt near matching the color of his vehicle, and simple black slacks, she saw the caduceus embroidered on the one of his shirt sleeves and another, unfamiliar symbol in red on the shirt pocket.

"Are you hurt?" He asked again, shaking her from her observations, she shook her head slightly as he squatted down next to her, looking her over a little, she guessed for injuries, her thick camouflage pants spared her legs from anything major, her right arm was all scraped up and bleeding a little but that was minor compare to what she had experienced before, though it seemed to grab his attention seeing as he moved to lightly grasp her wrist and look over the injury, the man giving a sigh and shaking his head "Let me get that disinfected and bandaged." He said as he moved to stand, helping her to her feet as she heard the motor of her bike die, giving a sigh of relief that nothing sparked with that leaking fuel, the situation, and her temper, would have gotten much worse if it had. She couldn't blame the man though, it was her absent mindedness that caused the accident in the first place. She turned to face him once she was upright once more, much to her surprise, having to look up just slightly to look at him, he was about four inches taller than her she reasoned, and she suddenly felt a tinge of pity for the guy knowing how unfriendly light fixtures tended to be towards heads. The man opened the door to the hummer, the markings on the side of which showed it to be a rescue vehicle, she couldn't help but smirk at the irony of having been hit by a rescue vehicle, but then again, she knew stranger things had happened. ~At least it wasn't an ambulance. ~She mused to herself as the man reached inside and rummaged a bit, soon pulling out a small medical kit, why he thought he needed to tend to such a minor injury was beyond her, but he was being polite so she wasn't going to pull away, not as if she could verbally tell him not to worry about it and any means of trying to convey the message might be taken the wrong way, so she just went with it.

"You really should be more careful, motorcycles are hard to see from around the corner. Dangerous vehicles really, you are lucky you didn't hit your head, considering you were reckless enough to not even wear a helmet." He began as he opened up the med kit to get the items needed to disinfect and dress the, in her opinion, minor wound. Not knowing what else to do, she signed 'Sorry' with her free hand, seeing as he already had the wrist of her injured arm in his grasp and had begun wiping it with the disinfectant, bringing a small hiss from her, that stuff he was using on it stung worse than getting the injury in the first place.

He looked up a moment seeing her signing, tilting his head to the side a moment "Sign language? Suppose you are unable to speak then. Can you hear alright?" she nodded in response, this seemed to make the man feel at least slightly relieved as he returned to treating the minor damage, just another scar for the collection for her, but he sure seemed to be making a big deal out of it. "It's nothing major, should heal in a week at the most. Nothing more than moderate tissue damage, it will likely scar however." She shrugged at the mention of it scarring and simply motioned to the other numerous scars adorning her arm, to which he nodded "Seems that is not a major concern for you then." he simply stated.

She couldn't help but glance over at her bike, still laying on it's side not too far from them, she gave a heavy sigh seeing it, shaking her head dejectedly, so much for her relaxing Saturday ride, she already knew she was going to get an earful from a certain blond friend when she found out about this. Without her realizing, the man had followed her gaze after finishing the wrapping on her forearm. "Don't worry, it can be repaired." she heard him say, this bringing her to snap her gaze right to him, oh if looks could kill, she knew it could be repaired but so much work had gone into that bike, not to mention the paintjob. It seemed he noticed the glare he was getting from her if his next words were anything to judge by "You are lucky you did not suffer greater injury, it can be repaired much easier than you can." she just sighed, her expression softening a bit as she gave a small nod as she moved to pull her cell phone from her pocket, hoping to call up a friend for a ride, only to find, to her dismay, that her cell phone had also suffered from the fall, as in it was broken in half, she sighed, just glaring at the thing for a moment before putting it back in her pocket, shaking her head ~Just my luck, barely wake up and I have to pick up Sara, I get hit by a rescue vehicle, of all damned things, my baby is all scratched up, and now, my phone is beyond dead, could this day get any better?~ she gave her Gold Wing one more look before slowly face palming, until he spoke again, his voice not once losing it's calm tone.

"If you need a ride home, I suppose I could at least offer that, judging by your motorcycle's engine dieing, I doubt it would make the journey."

She looked up to him, giving a half hearted attempt at a smile, if anything to show some sort of gratitude as she nodded to him 'That would be helpful, thank you' she signed to him, hoping she was right in assuming he could understand her by his previous reaction, which he confirmed a moment after. "It would not be any trouble. Where do you live?"

She took out her notepad and pen to write down the address for him, tearing the paper free and handing it to him, which he took with a nod before moving to help her secure her bike before leaving, though even as she did so she could not shake the feeling that they were being watched, she tried to blame it on simple paranoia, but she knew she normally was the farthest thing from paranoid. She just shrugged it off as she finally got in the hummer's passenger seat, having to be reminded to put on her seatbelt by the man who had helped her, before they pulled off.

* * *

Another two hours down, another twenty plus to go, sure, the medic had told her she should rest and let her arm heal, and as kind as he seemed, he also seemed a bit too worried about the little scratch, besides, her baby couldn't just stay all scratched up like this! She had her music going, her tools on her workbench, and a six pack of cola in the mini-fridge, and she was ready to get her hands dirty, her hair had already been pulled back into a ponytail to keep it out of her way while she worked. Upon inspection the damage hadn't been as bad as she feared, a small puncture in the gas tank and cosmetic damage was about the extent of it, besides obviously needing new tires, which she had a habit of keeping in supply with how she rode. She had already gotten the gas tank off and onto her workbench at this point, having drained it of remaining fuel and cleaned out the inside so she could work without worrying about a spark igniting the damned thing. Though her work was soon interrupted by a knock on the side of her garage door, she looked up sharply to see, much to her dismay, a uniformed police officer. ~I didn't think he had called the cops to report it! Don't people normally do that at the scene of the accident anyways? Not a few hours afterwards?~ She thought to herself as the officer, without warrant nor invite, began to walk right into the garage, she narrowed her eyes at him as he did so, moving from her workbench, a wrench still in hand, she didn't like this, cops always at least asked if they could enter the property, failure to do so could cost them their badge if they don't provide a warrant, which he had not shown. Her expression hardened at his actions as she looked him over, black, sleeked back hair, standard police uniform, though his badge was odd, it bore what looked like a purple face of some odd design on it. However, what was likely the most startling feature of this man was his eyes, blood red, and she doubted a police officer would come on duty with contacts like that in.

"I hear you had a little accident, I'm here to investigate it." the man said, his voice a bit gravely, and she would have swore she heard a malice undertone. Now was time for her paranoia to kick in, she watched him carefully, moving more into the center of the garage 'You can't come in here without a warrant or invite.' she signed at him, hoping he would understand her, as she knew many were clueless about sign language.

"Where's the one who hit you?" he asked, ignoring her attempt at communication it seemed. Though that question had her feeling even more uneasy about the situation. ~If the medic had called the cops to report the accident, then wouldn't they be able to contact him?~ she thought to herself, something was off with this, massively, she may be a mute, but she wasn't stupid, she was actually rather quick mentally, despite her recklessness on the road. She simply shook her head in reply, trying to indicate that she didn't know.

"Did he give you a way to contact him?"

She once more shook her head in reply, her fist tightening on the wrench she held, her posture lowering somewhat offensively, as if ready to lash out if needed, as the officer still walked towards her, she could have an intimidating presence and she knew it, she would try to use intimidation to get the unwelcome officer, who she was fairly certain was no officer of the law by his blatant ignorance of protocol, to back off, she finally put out one hand in a gesture to stop, as a final means of conveying the message if her expression, pose and obvious defensiveness didn't already get that point across.

Then, he did just what she was anticipating, he lunged at her, faster than most could ever hope to, she barley had time to react to the attack as she swung her wrench right at his face, putting a decent amount of speed and strength behind it, more than enough to incapacitate a person, no matter how big they were, and the hit connected beautifully, right across his temple of all things, causing him to go to the side a bit as she leapt away from him, watching him, she knew he would be out cold after a hit like that from a wrench that size.

Her face almost dropped when she saw him pushing himself back up. ~Oh shit! Impossible!~ she thought before flinging the wrench right at him, not even waiting to see if it connected, though the sound said it did, as she bolted right to the door of her house, getting inside and locking the door before running right to the chest in the living room, she had abandoned the wrench because of the fact she knew right where her weapons collection was, out of sight but easy to get to if needed, Sara called her paranoid for it, but as this situation proved, a little foresight could be a good thing.

She quickly flung the chest open and grabbed right for the sword on the top, a full tang, 350 fold battle ready katana, one she always kept sharpened. Pulling it from it's sheath as she kicked the chest lid closed once more, she turned to face the door, just in case he tried to break through, and considering the fact that he just took a steel wrench to the face and got back up without even a sign of pain, she didn't think that door would stand much of a chance, not like she would if the sword had the same level of effect as that wrench did, but it was worth a shot and she had no place else to run. If she was going to go down, she was going to go down fighting.

Sure enough, soon the door rocked, the screws holding the deadbolt nearly ripped free on just the first attempt, then another loud slam against the door, ripping the knob and lock free, the so-called officer standing in the doorway.

"WHERE IS HE?" the man shouted before lunging right at her, she saw how fast he was from the first attack, she was prepared, at least partly, she slashed right at him, aiming the blade right across his chest as she quickly sidestepped his lunge, it made contact, but he landed on his feet despite it, though there was a noise, sounding almost like a modulated growl, of aggravation as he charged at her once more, aiming to throw a side punch at her, or so it seemed, her eyes widened when he grabbed the katana blade with his bare hand. She had sharpened that blade herself, she knew it was sharp enough to slice through flesh and bone, but yet, he grabbed it bare handed and was holding the blade as if it was nothing, but she didn't have time to question how the hell it was possible now, her life may well be on the line.

She put her weight behind the blade, aiming to try to slide it in his grasp, hoping the friction of his grip didn't render it immobile, so she could try to impale him with it despite him having grabbed it, it seemed something like that wouldn't stop him, but maybe, she reasoned, it would slow him down enough to try and make a break for it. The blade slipped a decent amount, it seemed it just may work, until something she hadn't exactly counted on happened, he used his hand to rip the handle right out of her hand, almost tugging her with it due to her own grip, the pull was followed by his arm coming right at her, in such close proximity and with the speed this man had displayed, she didn't stand a chance of dodging that one.

~Oh fuck me. . . ~ was her only thought as the arm collided with her upper body like a ton of bricks, sending her flying across the living room from the shear force of it, her fall was broken by the equally unpleasant feeling of her back slamming into, and likely denting the hell out of, a wall, knocking the wind out of her and sending her glasses falling from her face to goodness knows where. She was half blind without them and near defenseless due to it, not as if her defense was doing her much good today anyways, she reasoned.

She could see the outline of her attacker moving towards her, she could hear him laughing as he approached, right now she was mentally cursing the fact that she hadn't worn her contacts today, they would have likely not left her blinded in a fight.

"Pathetic, weak insect." she heard him say as he grew nearer, despite her current half blind state, she tried her damnedest to shoot the figure a glare, she was at least going to have the dignity to look him in the eyes, so to speak, even if she was beaten. She was certain of one thing however, after that hit, which she suspected might have cracked a couple of ribs, this man was not normal.

As he grew closer, she tried to get to her feet, only to feel a pain shoot through her chest, causing a soundless growl to come from her ~Yea, that's a cracked rib, this just ain't my day.~ she thought as he came to a stop, standing right in front of her and reaching down, she saw the limb reaching towards her throat through the haze of vision she had when suddenly another outline came into view, slamming right into her attacker, sending the two figures flying across the room before she heard what she guessed was the voice of the one who just, as much as she hated to apply the word, saved her.

"Ratch'! Get the girl outta here, I'll hold 'im off!" came the slightly husky voice before she felt a hand at her upper arm, she tensed at the feeling, half ready to strike out of pure instinct at this point before she heard the voice of the one next to her.

"It's alright, I'm going to get you to safety" came the calm, baritone voice, she recognized it from earlier in the day, it was the medic, at least she thought it was his voice, certainly sounded similar enough. He moved to help her lift herself from the ground, a sharp inhale coming from her as that cracked rib reminded her of it's presence, her free hand shooting to her side to cover the pained area as she tried to shove it from her mind. She had to move, because if the sounds in the room were any indication, things were getting really rough really fast. She felt the one, Ratch, did the other call him, moving to help her support herself and guiding her out of the door and back into the garage, she could make out the outlines of the room well enough and see something neon yellow in the driveway as what she was pretty sure was the medic from earlier, guided her towards the vehicle.

He had soon opened the door and gotten her inside before he climbed in himself and the engine started, she could feel the hummer start pulling out and see the outlines of the surroundings moving before the driver finally spoke, his voice still calm but concerned "Are you injured?" he asked, she responded with a small nod, finally moving to indicate her rib and sign to him 'Cracked I think' she then heard a pensive hmmm before she replaced her hand on said rib.

"I believe you are correct, I will care for it after I get you to safety." he said after a moment as they made their way down the road, every bump causing her to wince slightly, the pain from the rib was annoying her to no end, but she knew it could not be avoided.

There was a silence for a time before she finally signed to him once more 'He asked where you were.'

"He did? Oh dear. I am truly sorry you ended up in the middle of this."

'In the middle of what?' she signed in response, very carefully as to not aggravate her rib any more than it already was.

"I will explain once we reach our destination, just promise not to scream."

She smirked a bit before signing in reply 'To scream I would need working vocal cords.'

The statement got a slight chuckle from the medic, though she couldn't see his facial expression at all, and it annoyed her to no end. Then she remembered her spare glasses, reaching into her pocket she felt the hard metal of the case, pulling them out ~If these are broken, I am going to gut that wanna-be cop.~ was her only thought.

* * *

The trip wasn't too long, though every bump made her wish she could growl, out of annoyance if nothing else, soon the hummer came to a stop, she glanced around a bit, luckily her spare glasses were undamaged, and she was very thankful that she used a metal case at that point, she was relieved to discover this and put them on immediately, in the clearing they had come to a stop in there was another vehicle, a black chevy topkick with road armor at the bumpers and smoke stacks behind the cab, she couldn't help but give a smirk, the car fanatic in her was pleased.

"Alright, before I explain, just know that my friend and I will not hurt you, do you understand?"

She looked right to him as his voice snapped her from her car fanatic admiration, she nodded to him. As he moved to start inspecting where her injured rib was, seemingly checking to see if it would need to be reset as he continued.

"The man who attacked you was no police officer. . ." he continued as he gave a small nod after checking her injury, seeming satisfied, she suppose it couldn't be that bad if he hadn't freaked out like he had over the small case of road rash she had ". . .he is an enemy looking for not only myself, but my allies, one of which you saw today. He must have followed you after seeing the accident, why Barricade decided to attack you at your residence I do not know, however, considering that he did, you are now a target."

She flat browed at that, quickly moving to sign 'What the hell kind of name is Barricade? A nickname?'

"This is going to be harder to explain than I thought, none the less." he then motioned to the person in the topkick before the massive truck started driving towards them, stopping not too far in front of the hummer they were seated in, though the redhead's jaw near dropped as she tried to look into the black vehicle's cab, where the driver would be, or at least should be.

'Where's the driver?!' she signed rather surprised, thinking her eyes were betraying her, or that she got hit in the head harder than she thought in that little fight against that Barricade fellow.

The medic simply sighed, bringing a hand up to rub his temples "Slag it Ironhide. . ." she heard him breathe out before he looked at her "Don't be afraid, as I said, my friend and I will not bring you to harm."

'I think you need to start explaining, quickly I would suggest.' she signed to him, having wiped the look of shock off her face, things were getting weird, well, weirder at least, and she intended to get answers, her determination likely showing in her face.

"Just be patient, please, everything will be explained, we're just waiting for someone." he said, trying to calm her she would guess, but that didn't stop her from shooting him quite the glare, she was trying not to get freaked out, after all, he had helped her twice now, but the elusiveness was getting on her nerves, she had just been attacked by someone who seemed superhuman and this guy, nice as he seemed, obviously knew something but wasn't telling her, she had every right to be getting annoyed, at least by her reasoning. Soon the sound of another engine was heard, she looked up just in time to see a peterbilt rig pulling into the clearing, blue with gorgeous flames incorporated into the paint job, she couldn't help but wonder if all of the medic's friends had kick ass customized vehicles. She was near certain of the assumption upon seeing a camaro pulling up behind the truck, vibrant yellow with black racing stripes, she could actually see the camaro's driver, a younger male, likely barely even an adult, she was certain he was younger than she was, who seemed to be, if she had to take a wild guess, dancing in his seat to whatever was on his radio.

"There they are, took them long enough." the medic next to her stated as the camaro pulled right up along side the hummer they were sitting in, the driver hanging out the window a little bit and waving.

"Hey Ratchet, Optimus said you got that girl Barricade attacked with you?"

"That is correct Sam, she is, for the most part, uninjured, she has a fractured rib but it is not too serious."

"Cool, man, she got lucky huh?" the younger man identified as Sam said as he got out of his car, which, much to Victoria's shock, drove off after he got out, she was really starting to suspect that she took a blow to the head somewhere in that fight, she was pulled from her thoughts when the passenger door opened and Sam was standing there, smiling at her, he waved "Hey, Sam Witwicky, nice to meet you! And you are?"

The redhead gave a small half smile, though the thought crossed her mind that this boy seemed about as sunny spirited as Sara, she waved back and went to sign something before the medic, Ratchet she thought he called him, interjected.

"She's a mute Sam, she can still hear you though. I do not think I was able to get your name Miss."

Victoria looked back to the medic, nodding slightly as she signed her name, he nodded back afterwards.

"Victoria then, well, go on and get out. Sam, make she you give us enough space."

Sam nodded "Right, space, ummm. . ." he moved to help her get out of the hummer, though she politely waved off his assistance, she had a cracked rib but she'd be damned if she wasn't going to stand on her own accord "So you're mute huh? You'll probably get along with 'Bee great then!" he said as he motioned her a bit away from the gathering of vehicles ~Ironhide, Ratchet, Barricade, Bee, man what is it with these guys and weird nicknames?~ she thought as she followed him, once they stopped she looked back to where the hummer was, only to see the medic, Ratchet as Sam called him, was no longer in the vehicle, the look of surprise on her face must have been obvious because at that point Sam turned to her, though he had to look up slightly to meet her eye level due to her height, and suddenly had a somewhat serious look on his previously cheer face.

"OK, Victoria right? Look, I know this is probably gonna freak you out, I don't blame you, I was pretty freaked out too at first, but these guys aren't going to hurt you alright? Just, pleasepleasePLEASE don't freak out. OK?"

She just sighed, quirking an eyebrow at the boy, crossing her arms, somewhat painfully due to her rib, over her chest.

"OK, now. . ." The shorter male then looked over to where the, now driverless, vehicles were and made a kind of come on gesture "Go head guys, think she's about as ready as she will be."

The redhead looked to the vehicles expectantly, she was not disappointed. Parts began to move of their own accord, the sounds of gears activating, metal slipping smoothly against metal, and a few what she could only guess were hydraulic hisses soon filled the air, the bodies of these beautiful vehicles seemed to split at invisible seams as they reformed, parts snapping into place as they took on a bipedal shape, almost humanoid from what her currently racing mind was seeing, she could only stand, staring in complete amazement, before logic kicked in ~I knew it, I had to have taken a pretty hard hit to the head during that fight, I'm probably knocked out on my living room floor right now and this is all some weird, extremely detailed dream, that or I got knocked certifiably insane, cause there is no way in hell or anyplace else I'm seeing this!! ~

"Well, you're not running and you haven't passed out yet, I think you're taking it pretty well." came the young man's voice beside her, she looked to him just a moment before looking back to where the vehicles were, only to see massive robotic things with vehicular parts standing where the cars once were. For the first time in her life, she felt short, these things were massive, the tallest had to be at least twenty-five feet tall, she'd guess that was the peterbilt if the flames on his chest, was it a chest? And arms were anything to go off of. She could do nothing but look up in awe at this spectacle. ~What a day.~ she thought to herself as these robot things talked amongst themselves for just a moment before the tallest of them moved forward, leaning down in what seemed an attempt to get closer to eye level.

Part of her was curious now, the other part wanted to make for the hills, but her curiosity got the better of her, she stood there as the largest one spoke up, his voice rather stern but gentle in the same respect, he sounded middle aged she would have guessed, if these things had ages.

"Hello Victoria, I am Optimus Prime, the leader of the Autobots, we are autonomous robotic organisms from the planet Cybertron." the big guy said to her, she could do nothing but, as rude as it may be, stare, not exactly afraid, shocked would likely be a better definition of her reaction, but, these hadn't hurt her so far, so she assumed them not to be hostile. Before she had much more time to think about not only what she saw but also the fact that it was talking to her, he continued "I have been informed that you had the misfortune of meeting Barricade's holoform, he is one of the Decepticons, a very violent and ruthless faction from our home world, you are lucky to have come out of the fight without more serious injuries. Ratchet, our medical officer, has told me the he attacked you after a minor automotive accident."

The redhead finally composed herself enough to nod in response, moving to sign 'He came about two hours after Ratchet, if I have the names right, brought me home after the mishap. Knew something was off when he walked into the garage without a warrant or invite.'

"Whoa, you recover from something this big fast Victoria, ummm, what did she just say Optimus? I don't read sign language." came Sam's voice from at her side, she just looked towards the boy and sighed, fighting the urge to make the sign for idiot to see if he knew that at least.

"She was just telling me what happened Sam" came Optimus's reply, the redhead looked right back at the huge robotic person.

'You said I met this Barricade's holoform, what did you mean by that?' she signed, this was just bringing up all kinds of question, Optimus nodded before starting to explain.

"Holoforms are what we use to be able to interact with humans without exposing ourselves to the public, they are basically physical holographic images, you first met Ratchet when he was using his holoform after the accident, Ironhide returned with him, using their holoforms, to your residence when we picked up Barricade's signal, it seemed they made it there just in time."

Victoria merely nodded at the explanation, moving to push her glasses up on her nose a small bit, giving a heavy sigh. This was going to be a long day, she only hoped they didn't mind the tidal wave of questions that was to come.

* * *

It had been at least three hours by now, she had been signing question after question to the one who introduced himself as Optimus, introductions were out of the way, Sam seemed to be getting annoyed at only understanding half of the conversation due to the redhead signing. They had explained the difference between the Autobots and the Decepticons, explained that the two factions were in some kind of massive war that just so happened to end up on this planet due to something called the AllSpark, which Sam had destroyed by shoving into the Decepticon leader's chest, killing him only for him to have been resurrected, then another enemy had shown up, called the Fallen, who had been defeated, and somehow she ended up target to one of the Decepticon hunters, a year after the last full scale battle. She knew now that, even though they were robots, they we also sentient, highly intelligent and had their own distinct personalities. The most endearing one so far being the smallest, yellow camaro robot introduced as Bumblebee, Sam's guardian she was informed, who seemed unable to speak as well and used clips of songs, radio commercials and the like to get his point across, she had to give him points for originality there, it was almost, she dared say, cute, were it not sad that he lacked speech, then again she knew how it felt to have that communication barrier. Luckily, they all seemed to understand her sign language, as Ratchet explained, they were able to access the internet on a whim and look up the information in moments, that little ability of theirs had just saved her a lot of headache, and possibly caused Sam's to turn into a full blown migraine she reckoned.

She had taken a seat on a tree stump after the persistence from Ratchet that she should go easy on her rib, even though it was only fractured and nothing too major, he seemed concerned and he was too polite for her to just brush off, besides, she had been standing for a while now, and though she wouldn't show it, her legs had begun to protest. Her clothes and hands were filthy, but that was no big deal, and Ratchet seemed to be giving her currently lit cigarette a death glare, she was half amazed by just how expressive their faces were, half hoping she wasn't about to get an anti-smoking lecture from a twenty foot robotic medic, after the day she had, she needed a cigarette.

"Do you have any more questions Victoria?" Optimus's voice pulled her from her reflection on the information she had gathered in the last few of hours, she looked up to him, still feeling unbelievably short compared to these guys, a feeling she was in no way use to, she shook her head as she took a final drag from her cigarette and stubbed it out on the bottom of her boot. "Good, now, it may not be safe for you to return to your home tonight, as you no doubt saw, even your attempts to fight off Barricade's holoform were not good enough, despite how brave the attempt was. It is getting dark, I would rather you come with us for the night, we can return to your residence to collect a few of your belongings during the day, since it will be easier to see if you are followed." to this she merely nodded, standing from the stump she was sitting on.

"Cool, you'll get to see the base and met Sideswipe, he's a little full of himself but he's a pretty cool guy once you get past that. And the twins, they might drive you a bit nuts at first, but they're cool too once you get use to them" came Sam's voice from next to Bumblebee, the yellow mech nodding at his charge's words.

The redhead gave a small sigh, looking back to Optimus with a small nod and signing 'So, who am I ridding with?'

Ratchet was the one to speak up from behind the tallest Autobot "I'll take her, if you do not object sir." he said looking towards Optimus, who nodded as he stood back to his full, massive height.

"Alright Ratchet, see you back at the base then." he said as he took a couple steps back and began to revert back to his truck form, the redhead, once more, could not help but stare in wonder at the complexity of it all, how intricately every part moved, how they flawlessly snapped back into place. The others followed suit, changing just as intricately into their vehicle forms, soon the sounds of the transformations were replaced with that of engines. "Lets hurry, I would rather us be there before nightfall." came Optimus's voice from the huge peterbilt, the redhead just nodded and began walking towards the hummer, which she knew now was Ratchet, she didn't quite know rather to refer to the medic as him or it yet, but she'd figure out that detail later.

As soon as she got to the passenger door, it opened for her ~For robots they sure are more polite than most human men.~ she mused before climbing in and closing the door behind her, for a moment there was silence, then a sound similar to the expectant clearing of a throat from the hummer, she sighed ~Seatbelt, right.~ The thought occurred to her before she reached to secure the uncomfortable thing.

"That's better." came Ratchet's voice from the stereo system as he started to move, following the others who had already begun on their way "Are you always so reckless?"

She smirked a bit, signing, 'Only on my good days.' she didn't know how, but obviously, if the grumble she heard was any indication, he saw her response, and his reaction only served to make her smirk even more as they drove off. She was only hoping she would avoid the anti-smoking lecture on the way there, but as her luck had it today, it was a hope that was not fulfilled, for as soon as they were on the road he began on the topic, which she tried to block out, giving a heavy sigh at the mention. She had a feeling this was going to be a long ride.

Either lady luck decided to be merciful or someone upstairs liked her, because after fifteen minutes of riding on old, near abandoned roads, they finally came to a large clearing surrounded by a circle of tall evergreens, in the middle of said clearing was a decent sized network of what looked like re-enforced hangers and warehouses, they pulled to a stop and she saw Sam jump out of Bumblebee's driver side, taking a few steps back as the yellow camaro began to transform once more into the robot hidden within the frame.

"We're here, go on and get out so I can transform." she heard from Ratchet's speakers, giving just a nod she freed herself from the confines of the seatbelt and made her way out of the hummer, stepping back a bit herself, because it seemed they needed a decent amount of elbow room to make the change, which was soon completed, with her staring yet again, that was going to take some getting use to on her part, that much was for certain, she was soon joined by Sam as Ratchet stood in his true form, she looked to the younger, shorter male, about the only one out of this group so far that didn't make the redhead feel short.

"Alright, so, yea, this is the base, they got one of the warehouses set up with beds, normally for me and 'Kaela, that's my girlfriend, to stay when we visit, that's where you'll probably be staying, I can show you if you want."

She simply raised an eyebrow at the boy, a sigh passing her lips ~Great, looks like it's back to the pen and paper communication routine, 'case this kid don't seem to understand a lick of sign language.~ She thought as she gave a small nod.

"Yes Sam, after the day she has had, I am certain some rest would do her well, she can meet the others tomorrow." she heard Ratchet say, next thing she knew Sam had grabbed onto her wrist and was tugging her towards one of the warehouses, as much as she hated being pulled around, she was in no mood to smack him one as she normally would when someone tried to pull her about, she was too tired and exhausted to protest, soon they were inside one of the warehouses, she glanced around a bit, it was huge, small dividers formed something similar to rooms throughout the place, a massive sofa was to the left with a damned decent sized TV, to the right was a large divided area, she moved to peer around the divider only to see a huge bed in the makeshift room, she guessed it was a king by the size of it. There was an area of the corner walled off, she hazarded a guess it was the bathroom, much of the rest of the warehouse was open space. Overall, it was simply massive.

"So, you'll be staying here the night, ummm, have you had anything to eat?" she looked to him as he asked before looking down, mentally cursing herself for forgetting to eat yet again, it was getting to be a rather bad habit of hers as of late, one she intended to correct, she shook her head in response. "Ah, well, if you want I could go with Bee and pick you up something, you need to eat after all, what do you want?" she just shrugged at the question, pulling her notepad and pen from her pocket and jotting something down before holding it out for him to read it ~'I'm not really picky, but Mexican would be nice.'~ he nodded after reading it "Mexican, right, I think there's a place not too far from here." he said reaching into his pocket, she guessed for his wallet, she just held up a hand and pulled hers from her pocket, pulling a twenty free of the leather and holding the cash out to him. "You sure? 'Cause I think I have enough." she just smirked and nodded, this boy's friends had just saved her ass and she'd be damned if she was going to make him pay for food for her as well.

He took the offered bill with a smile "Alright, well, I'll be back in about thirty, just make yourself comfortable, alright?" She nodded in reply before Sam ran off.

A heavy sigh finally escaped her as she made her way to the sofa in the makeshift living room, sitting down carefully so she didn't jolt her rib and, for the first time all day, relaxing, she leaned back on the sofa, bringing her hands up to rest behind her head and try to stretch out as much as she could comfortably with her rib as it was, just staring up at the ceiling of the warehouse a bit, she could tell from the skylight that it was now dark, a few stars shining through the unclean glass above.

~I just can't believe this, barley wake up and have Sara's more than bubbly self to bring to the hospital, just want to go for my nice, quiet, Saturday ride, get hit by a hummer who happens to be a giant alien robot, get attacked by a hologram, or holoform, whatever the hell they call it, that looks like a fuckin' cop, get slammed into a wall before getting pulled out of my house by the hummer's holoform, didn't even get a chance to grab a snack through all of this, find out from a twenty or thirty foot robot that there's aliens on earth and one unexpected happening has landed me in the middle of a multi-thousand year old war. As if that wasn't enough, one of my ribs it cracked, I got the anti-smoking speech from a robot hummer and I STILL barley made progress repairing my baby! This day jus' went to hell in a hand basket and then some, didn't it? Let's see, did I miss anything? Oh yea, my cell phone is also broken in fucking half, just to put the icing on the cake, and I don't even wanna think bout the damage to my living room from the attack!~

He thoughts were soon interrupted however, when she heard the larger warehouse door open, looking in the direction of the sound, and still half ready to jump after the day she had, she saw the black topkick robot, Ironhide if she remembered properly, standing in the doorway.

"You doin' a'right kid? Optimus asked me to come check on you." he said as he took a few steps inside to close the warehouse door behind him. She nodded in response, though she couldn't help but sign 'Don't call me kid please. I'm not that young.' to him.

He gave a small huff at her, crossing his arms over his chest in reaction, this exciting just a small smirk from the redhead.

"Fine, you do seem more mature than Sam at least, guess you're not exactly a kid. What were you thinkin' though? Trying to fight Barricade yourself when he attacked, do you have a death wish or somethin'?"

She gave a sigh, shaking her head before signing her reply 'I didn't know he wasn't human at the time, he was a threat, I was going to defend myself, and I'll be damned if I was about to run from a man invading my home.'

"Are you glitched or somethin'? You could have got yourself killed girl!"

She just shook her head 'If I had got myself killed, at least I'd have gone down with a fight.' she replied.

He narrowed his eyes, or at least equivalent of eyes, at her a moment, just kind of looking over her for a second before finally speaking up again. "Well, least you look like you can handle yourself, least against other humans, guess it's not surprisin' you tried to fight."

'Of course, after all, I didn't get the scars I have from falling off high heels.' she signed with a slight smirk, getting what she supposed was a chuckle from the black mech.

"I guess you got a point. Still, you don't stand a chance against the Decepticons, no matter how tough you are by human standards."

'Well I don't know, a wrench to the face sure seemed to stagger him, or at least it did in his holoform.' she signed slightly jokingly 'But yes, I realize I lack physical strength to overcome him, I didn't know that before however.'

"Jus' try not to take on any more Decepticon holoforms if you can help it. You got guts kid, but that ain't enough to beat 'em" the moment the word kid came out, it earned him a glare from those hazel eyes, which were turning a bit greener from her exhaustion. That was the odd thing about the redhead's eyes, though they were technically classified as hazel, her health seemed to effect their color, if she was ill or tired they took on more of a green hue, when she was excited or feeling better than normal they took on a more bluish tone, it was something she noticed only when her friend Sara had pointed it out to her, saying her eyes turned a scary mix of the two colors when she was really angry, making them almost a dark aqua. Ironhide gave a small huff at the glare but shrugged it off, she guessed he likely made the connection between the sharp look and him referring to her as a kid if his next question was any indication.

"So how old are you anyways?"

'Twenty-three' she signed to him 'I know it's not exactly old, but it is certainly above the age of a child, besides, my mind doesn't exactly match the age too well.'

There was a bit of a hmph from the black mech as the smaller, side door of the warehouse opened, Sam walking in with a bag in his hand, behind him was a woman of about his age who looked like she had stepped right out of a fashion magazine. Her shorts showed a bit too much of her leg than they should in the redhead's opinion, but to each their own, makeup applied perfectly to her face which was framed by perfect brown waves of hair. In short she was beautiful, and the redhead wasn't too jealous to admit it, after all, she knew not everyone could win the genetic lottery like that girl had.

"Hey Ironhide!" Sam called to the somewhat grumpy seeming mech, who nodded to the arrivals in greeting.

"Evenin' Sam, Mikaela." Ironhide responded before Sam turned to the woman following him.

"'Kaela, that's Victoria, the one I told you bout, she can't talk so . . ."

"I know Sam, you told me on the way here."

"Uh, yea, right, I did huh? Anyways." at that the younger male turned towards the redhead once more as he and Mikaela made their way towards the sofa, him handing her the bag of food before both of them had a seat on the sofa. "Change is in the bag." Sam said to her before she signed 'Thank you' to him, the boy just looked at her clueless.

"She said thanks Sam. I know a little sign language, not enough to keep up a conversation, but small, common things." Mikaela explained to her obviously clueless boyfriend.

"Oh, OK, no problem!" the boy said as they heard Ironhide moving about.

"I'm gonna get out of here, see you later kids." the mech stated as he made his way to leave, that annoying word earning him yet another glare from the redhead as he departed.

She turned to her food, digging into the bag to see what might settle her hunger, tacos were always a good choice, but the burritos and nachos were tempting as well, the room didn't stay silent for long though, as it seemed the pair was anxious to talk to the new arrival, which in this unfortunate case, happened to be the slightly anti-social redhead. Mikaela was the first to speak up.

"So, Sam told me what happened, man, you are lucky Ironhide and Ratchet showed up with they did, Barricade isn't someone you want to mess with."

The redhead just nodded, half listening as she was being talked at while trying to eat.

"Yea, I remember when I first ran into him, wasn't his holoform either, dude sure is one scary looking bot." Sam chimed into the conversation, if you really wish to call being talked at conversing. "So umm, yea, you didn't even get hurt too bad, and you tried to take on his holoform from what I heard, man that's nuts, I'd of been out of there as fast as I could run if something like that happened."

Victoria just shrugged, perhaps a little too much as she felt that annoying pain in her ribs from the movement, but she just ignored it as she finished her taco, going for a second in no time. She hadn't eaten all day, she wasn't about to waste time with her food after the day she had.

"So. . ." it was Mikaela again "Sam told me you'll be going to get some of your stuff tomorrow, I know they won't force you to stay here against your will, so they'll probably assign a guardian to you, like how 'Bee watches over Sam, just hope you don't get one of the twins, they can be annoying sometimes, Don't get me wrong, they're great, when they can stop beating up on each other long enough to get something done."

"Yea, having a guardian is pretty sweet, I mean, first, you end up with a new friend, and second you get a hot ride out of the deal, it's a pretty sweet situation." The comment earned him a slap across the chest from his girlfriend, which caused Sam to give a slight oof, "What? You know 'Bee's like my best friend, but he still turns into a kick ass camaro!"

The redhead put down her half eaten taco on the table in front of the sofa and pulled out her notepad, writing something down and pulling the page free before handing it to Sam to read ~'The only ride I'm worried about is the 1980 Honda Gold Wing sitting in my garage that I have to repair yet again.'~ the boy looked at her as soon as he had read the note, and the redhead went right back to her temporally neglected food.

"You work on bikes too!? So does Mikaela! Cool, gonna have to see it one day, once it's all fixed up and everything."

Vic just nodded as she continued eating, Mikaela peering at the note herself "A 1980 Honda Gold Wing? Nice, Interstate?"

Victoria gave a confirming nod, finishing her second taco before pulling out her notepad again and jotting down another message ~'I restored it from a non-working heap used for spare parts, she runs beautifully, custom paint job, a few personal modifications, dark crimson paint job with blue phoenixes airbrushed on either side. It's going to be a pain to redo, but that bike's my baby, I will get her back on the road, the damage wasn't too bad.'~

Once Mikaela read the note she looked up to the redhead with a smile "Cool, if you need any help fixing it, let me know alright?"

Victoria gave a small half smile and a nod, so it seemed this beauty had skills to go with her looks, and the redhead wondered if she might have just made a new best friend, after all, not many women could stand getting their hands full of grease and grim, the few who could were normally pretty cool, at least from what the redhead had seen before. The topic turned from bikes to cars to mechanics and other topics that the girls shared interest in, leaving poor Sam feeling a bit left out she had guessed, but he still tried to keep up with the conversation, she had to give him credit for that. Once they finally headed out, she made straight for that big bed, flopping down on it, forgetting her rib for a moment, which she was quickly reminded of when the sharp sensation jolted through her side, it brought forth an annoyed hiss from her, but that was about it, she was too tired to pay it much more mind. Within a matter of minutes she was asleep, and goodness did she sleep well, cracked rib or not, after the day she had.

* * *

Morning came too early, but this time she wasn't woken up by the normal screaming of her alarm clock, instead she was awoken by the lovely sounds of bickering and something hitting the outside wall of the building she was in, and by the sounds of it, whatever hit it was heavy, she hazarded to guess likely metal.

"Yo man, that ain't cool throwin' me into walls and stuff!"

"Well den don't try to trip me and I wouldn't be throwing ya into walls!"

The redhead sat up, rolling her eyes at the noises from outside, her body was rather sore due to the previous days events, but she was use to aching joints, this just happened to ache a little more than normal. She just ran her fingers through her hair to tame the mess before standing. Still in the makeshift room she had fell asleep in, she was pretty certain it wasn't all a dream by now, it was crazy, unbelievable, insane and weird, but it wasn't a dream. She moved from the room, her messy hair only somewhat tamed, she managed to get most of the knots out at least. Putting her glasses on so she could properly see, she moved to look outside and see just what all the damned ruckus was about, sure enough, as soon as she opened the door, her answer was standing there. Two smaller robots looked like they were about to tear into each other. They both seemed shorter than Bumblebee, almost identical to each other aside from their colors, as one was green, the other red, and they did not look happy with each other.

The red one suddenly leapt at the green, she was half waiting to heard the metal on metal collision when she saw another, slightly taller robot step up and catch the two by something on their backs and holding them midair.

"Stop your fighting you two, you're going to scare our guest!" Said the third, his voice sounded somewhat young, not exactly teenager, but certainly not too old either, he had wheels where his feet should be and a metal part hanging from his elbow joints, he was silver in color. He stood there just glaring at the two smaller mechs for a moment before dropping them to the ground, where they landed with a thud.

"Whatever man, I'm outta here." the red one said as he stood up and started to storm off, followed by the green identical robot, at this point the silver Autobot turned to look at the redhead.

"Nice to see you're finally awake." he said as she stepped out from the door fully, nodding slightly.

'I'm guessing those are the twins Sam warned me about.' she signed to him, to which he nodded in response.

"Yes, Mudflap and Skidz sorry about them, they can be a bit aggravating."

The redhead just shrugged at that, not too awfully worried about it, she was told they tended to bicker and fight a lot. She looked up to the silver bot, tilting her head a small bit before signing to him 'And you are?'

"Name's Sideswipe, nice to meet you Victoria." She simply nodded in reply before he continued "Optimus asked me to help you gather a few belongings from your house, just enough for a few days, until a guardian is assigned to you. Since the Decepticons know where you live it's not safe for you to be there without a guardian for right now."

She just sighed, nodding that she understood, at that point Sideswipe took a step back and began to change into his vehicle form, upon seeing it, the redhead jaw dropped. He was a corvette stingray, beautiful silver paint job, streamlined body, an undeniably gorgeous car. ~It's a robot Vic, not a car, get over your car fanatic reactions! But still, DAMN!~ It took her a moment to shake from her gawking, Sideswipe's voice helping her snap back to reality as well.

"Well, are you just going to stare or do you plan on getting in?"

With that the redhead wiped the stupid look off her face and made for the corvette, to her surprise the driver door opened.

"You're riding in the driver's seat, I'd rather not have to activate my holoform for something so simple."

She nodded and made her way into the driver's seat, the door closing as the engine started. 'I can't believe you're a fucking corvette!' she signed to him.

"I picked this alternative mode because of it's speed, it just happened to look good too."

'Sure, and this hair color's natural.' she signed with a sarcastic smirk

This got a chuckle from the autobot before he reminded her, just as Ratchet had, of the uncomfortable restraint device in the vehicle. "Seatbelt." was all he said, prompting an eye roll as she moved to buckle up, as soon as the seatbelt was on, they were off, it seemed Sideswipe was wasting no time as he damn near peeled out of the clearing, making his way to the road exiting the area at quite an impressive speed, this provoked a grin from the speed demon of a redhead, sure, he was no bike, but he was a corvette, still pretty high on her list of awesome vehicles.

The trip home took only half the time she had expected, Sideswipe drove like she did when she was pissed off. As soon as he came to a stop she began to remove the seatbelt signing to him 'I'll only be a moment' before getting out and making to the house, the moment she opened the door and saw the disaster area that was her living room, her eyes narrowed, had she a voice she would have just growled, there were dents in the walls, her TV was smashed, table broken in half, she just stood there a moment, looking like she was about to kill somebody, she almost swung when she felt the hand on her shoulder.

She spun around near ready to strike when she came eye to eye with the one who was behind her, a tall man who looked about her age, he stood almost equal to her height, with spiked blonde hair tipped with white, near chiseled but attractive facial features and eyes as blue as Ratchet's holoform's had been. To put it bluntly, he looked like an attractive jock, his body build fitting the description as well.

"Don't worry, the damage can be fixed later, go ahead and get your things." it was Sideswipe's voice, obviously this was his holoform "You need a hand?"

She shook her head, signing 'I got it' to him before turning to make her way up the stairs and to her room, grabbing a duffel bag from under her bed and starting to pack a few things that were needed, basically, whatever was clean and fit. ~Figures, the one who picks the corvette also has a holoform that most women would go weak at the knees seeing, not that he's my type or anything, hell, I don't even have a type, he's attractive sure, but, eh, too much of a pretty boy. No wonder Sam said he's a little full of himself.~ she mused as she finished packing what she would need for the stay and slung the bag over her shoulder, hissing slightly as that rib made it's presence known once more. As soon as she turned to the door she saw him standing there, shaking his head a moment before moving to try and take the bag for her, to which she just shook her head.

"Don't be stubborn, you have a fractured rib, I can carry it for you."

She shook her head, signing 'A rib is hardly enough to make me ask for help.'

He just shook his head at her "You are a stubborn one, aren't you?"

She smirked 'Wouldn't still be alive if I wasn't.' she signed before he just gave a defeated sigh, shaking his head at her with a smirk on his own lips. With that he stepped aside, letting her pass to make her way down the stairs, his holoform vanishing behind her, she went out the garage exit, closing and locking the garage door on her way before climbing back into the driver's side and shutting the door, placing her bag in the passenger seat.

"Ready?" He asked her, she just nodded "No you're not." came his reply, to which she just raised an eyebrow "The seatbelt." she just gave a heavy sigh, signing to him 'Persistent.' before putting it on, he chuckled at her a second as she crossed her arms over her chest and quirked an eyebrow "OK, now you're ready." he said before pulling off.

Once more, the trip took little time, Sideswipe driving like a man, or bot, possessed, they skidded to a halt near the warehouse she had stayed in the night before, in the center of all the buildings there seemed to be a small gathering of Autobots, she could clearly see Optimus, Ratchet and Ironhide in the group as she grabbed her duffel bag and moved to get out, as she stepped away Sideswipe turned back to his bipedal form, she couldn't help but look as it happened, it was just to interesting, once he stood he brought his arms to cross over his chest.

"Looks like they started the party without us." he said with a slightly jesting tone, the redhead just smirked, moving to deposit her duffel bag just inside the warehouse door before, due to her curiosity, starting to walk towards where the others were gathered, what she was not expecting however, was having Sideswipe more or less scoop her up in his hand "Let me give you a lift." he said before she had even a chance to protest and they made their way towards the group, she had to admit it was faster than walking, but being carried was just embarrassing, once they joined up with the group he carefully set her down, after which she placed her hands on her hips, cocking on hip to the side and shooting him a sidelong glare, though that did not last for long before Optimus grabbed her attention.

"Were you able to get what you needed?" he asked as she turned her attention to the tallest of them, she gave a small nod. "Good, it will only be for a couple of days until we decide who will act as your guardian for the time being."

'Why do you believe I need one? If Barricade was coming after me to find Ratchet then why do you think there would be a second attempt?' she signed out, tilting her head a bit awaiting the answer.

"They have seen you with one of us, and the fact that both Ironhide and Ratchet came to your aid when he attacked you will only serve to strength the Decipticon's belief that you are connected to us. They will hunt you to get to us."

Victoria gave a heavy sigh, lowering her gaze slightly and shaking her head a bit, deep red hair curtaining her face, her longer bangs swaying slightly at the motion, she paused a second before looking up and sweeping her hair back, signing one simple phrase. 'Point of no return.'


	2. Only half crazy

Three days, you would think she'd have gotten use to giant alien robots walking around by now. The twins were starting to wear on her last nerve already, she had found herself wishing she had a heavy wrench or something to chunk at their heads a few times at this point. The rest of them were pretty agreeable, besides Sideswipe being a little full of himself, he was a nice enough guy, decent to joke around with, even if he did seem to be a playful flirt, Ratchet, besides him lecturing her on being reckless and on the dangers of smoking, was great company when it came to logical and intellectual discussion, Bumblebee proved to be just as cute as his name suggested, dancing around from time to time whenever he came across a song he liked on the radio, Optimus somehow managed to keep a cool head no matter what came up, even when dealing with the twins, Sam and Mikaela actually made a cute couple, and Sam was picking up on a few simpler signs, while her and Mikaela could spend hours discussing cars, with the aid of her notepad of course, Ironhide, grumpy as he was sometimes, had a lot of experiences to share and turned out to be a pretty good conversation buddy, once you got pass the grump act at least.

All and all, she kind of liked these guys, sure, they were giant robots from outer space, something she never thought she could accept as fact without making an appointment with the nearest loony bin, but they acted just like normal people, despite how they looked. She stayed laying in the king sized bed, just staring up at the warehouse ceiling, lost in thought, her rib having already started feeling better, when she heard the larger door to the warehouse open, she rolled carefully off the bed to stand, stretching a bit before moving to exit the makeshift room, giving a small wave when she saw Ratchet in the doorway.

"Good, you are already awake. How is your rib doing?" he said, leaning down a bit to save her from having to look all the way up.

'A little sore, but it is getting better.' she signed to him, to which he nodded.

"That is good to hear, Optimus would like to speak with you, when you are ready of course." he stated as he stood once more, the redhead nodded to him, stretching her neck out a bit, finally she heard the cracks she was hoping for.

'I'm ready.' she signed before moving to follow the massive medic, still not totally use to feeling like a midget among them, something she figured she'd get use to in time, or at least she hoped she would. Once they were outside, Ratchet lead her to the main hanger, getting the door open and inside before shutting it once more, and sure enough, there was Optimus, standing there reading something from a display, Ratchet went to speak, but she beat him to it, letting out a loud whistle to get the leader's attention, causing the two mechs to flitch slightly at the sudden sound, Optimus turned around to face them, the redhead had just the smuggest look on her face at this. The medic merely sighed "That's one way to do it. . ." she heard him mumble.

Optimus leaned down slightly to look at her, he didn't look annoyed at the action, though he did look, perhaps, slightly amused, or maybe he was just in a good mood, she couldn't be certain. "Good morning Victoria." he greeted her with, to which she gave a small wave, Optimus then looked to Ratchet with a small nod before the medic returned the nod and turned to leave. As the medical officer left, Optimus offered his hand for her to climb up on and, as much as she hated being carried, she hated having to look up at someone even more, so she carefully climbed onto his hand so he could lift her to eye level as they spoken, thankfully, her balance was pretty damned good, so she was able to stay standing through this.

"I am sorry we asked you to stay away from your home for so long, we were monitoring the area for any signs of Decepticon activity. Thankfully, there has been none since you were attacked."

She nodded at this, bringing her arms to cross leisurely over her chest as she listened.

"I have decided it is safe for you to return to your residence, with a guardian of course."

'So who has to put up with me?' she signed with a small joking smirk.

Optimus nodded a bit at her question "Ironhide has volunteered to act as your guardian for the time being"

Victoria tilted her head a bit, almost as if to be sure she heard that right. She and Ironhide got along well enough in the time she was there, yes, but she didn't think he'd want to put up with her 24/7 'Unexpected' was all she could respond with.

"Perhaps, but he volunteered to do so, if you have no problems with it."

She shook her head signing 'No problem, just didn't expect him to want to put up with me.'

She heard a small chuckle come from the huge Autobot "You're not that annoying Victoria." he said before moving to place her gently back on the floor before standing once more "Go on, he's waiting outside." he said, Victoria gave a small nod, waving over her shoulder as she made her way out.

Within a few moments she heard the heavy footsteps of one of the Autobots drawing nearer, she turned around only to be met with her new guardian, she couldn't help but smirk, why he volunteered to guard her she didn't know, but considering how fascinating his weaponry was, and the fact he was a pretty cool guy under the grouchiness, she wasn't about to complain, though she felt kind of sorry for Barricade if he came after her with Ironhide around, those cannons looked like they could leave quite a hole.

"You ready Vic?" he asked her, leaning down a bit.

'Need to grab my stuff.' she signed.

"A'right, hurry up then."

With that, the redhead nodded and headed right for the warehouse, it didn't take her long to throw her belongings into the duffel bag and head outside again, Ironhide already waiting outside the door in his vehicle form. Getting into the huge topkick was no issue for her, three feet worth of legs came in handy sometimes. As soon as she had gotten in, she put her bag in the passenger seat. 'Ready' she signed.

"I ain't movin' 'til you got your seatbelt on."

She sighed and complied, thinking to herself ~I swear, I'm not gonna win that battle against any of them from the looks of it.~ as soon as she had the seatbelt on and was settled in her seat, they started moving, soon they were on the road leading from the base, it wasn't long after that conversation began.

"So how'd you lose your voice? Born that way?" he asked her from the speakers, she shook her head in response, her hand coming up to her throat, tracing the scar running lengthwise down the front of her neck for a moment, her face looked almost sad at the memory, but she shook it off.

'An accident.' she signed.

"What kinda accident?"

'Street racing, one of the bikes ahead of me hit a small piece of metal in the road just right, the tire sent it flying, my throat just happened to be in the way.'

"Oh, well, least it didn't kill you."

'It almost did, ripped right though my larynx, shredding my vocal cords in the process, I almost drowned in my own blood, but I got lucky.'

"Lucky would be puttin' it lightly."

She simply nodded in response.

"How long ago?"

'About three years.'

"Not that long really. Musta been hard."

'It was, but I adjust fast.'

"Good quality to have."

'Tell me about it, a quality that has saved my ass a few times.'

A hmph came through the speakers, and she could swear she felt the truck form of Ironhide rock a little. "And you still ride a bike everywhere, you gotta have a death wish."

'I stopped street racing after that, I only let loose on the country roads, I won't put myself in that situation again.'

"Good, an' I'm gonna make sure you don't."

'Overprotective already?' she signed at him with a smirk.

"I'm your guardian, I plan on doin' my job, even if I gotta guard you from yourself."

'Why did you volunteer to be my guardian anyways?'

"Cause I respect you, trying to fight Barricade's holoform was reckless, but it takes nerves to stand and fight somethin' obviously stronger than you, that and don't know if the others could handle you."

A small smile came to the redhead's lips for just a moment 'Thanks' she signed to him after a moment.

"No reason to thank me, just tellin' you why."

'Still, thank you for the compliment.'

"You're welcome I guess."

They were crossing into city limits at this point, the city looked as it always did, peaceful, quiet besides the normal sounds within the subdivisions, all of them completely unaware of the fact they shared these streets with beings from another planet. Just as unaware as she had once been, September was coming to a close, the leaves had almost finished turning, she knew in another month she would have to deal with trick or treaters at her house, something she didn't really mind, it was part of the whole childhood thing, who was she to shoo them away? Quite the opposite in fact, she always made sure she had more than enough candy and surprises for the youngsters, as anti-social as she was, it was one of the few times of year she enjoyed. Her spur of the moment planning was interrupted as they stopped at a red light.

"I'm guessin' I'm gonna have to help you get to work during all this, won't I? Not lookin' forward to sittin' in some parking lot."

The redhead sighed, shaking her head a bit 'I don't work.' she signed

"You live on your own but don't work? What, does you family pay for everything?"

'I guess you could say that, at least, the inheritance does.'

There was a small silence as the traffic light turned green and they started moving again, after a few moments she heard Ironhide from the sound system again, though his voice was a little lower.

"Sorry 'bout bringin' it up"

She shook her head 'It was a long time ago, I'm over it.' she signed before leaning back in the seat a bit, she was over it, at least for the most part, but she knew dwelling on the loss wouldn't do her any good, sure, she remembered it, she remembered exactly what happened, how could she forget, their screams, her mother crying, the sound of the wind, the funnel cloud over her aunt's Texas home, this was before she moved out of tornado alley, she had just turned fourteen, was always so excited to visit her Aunt's ranch, it was where her lovely horse was, only ten minutes from her own home with her family. They had been eating, then the undeniable sound was heard, it sounded like a freight train but there were no tracks for miles, and anyone who had been around tornados before knew the danger that sound held, they had grabbed her and ran outside towards the cellar, but the twister was faster, it tore through the house in no time, sending debris flying everyplace, a part of the wall falling on her Aunt after hearing the bloody curdling scream, she was being dragged by her father, her hair still natural at the time, white blond being whipped into her face in the wind, and then, a large section of the roof came down on them, her father grabbing onto her and trying to shield her from the debris, then everything went dark. She woke to the sounds of ambulance sirens, people shouting, looking for survivors, she looked up to her father through the haze, his body still around her protectively, but he felt so stiff, she looked at his face, blood dripped down from his hairline, his eyes open but so lifeless, she touched his face only to feel the cold of death in his skin, and she screamed, she could never forget that day, even if she tried, it was the day she became an orphan, and the day the girl she once was was left in the rubble of that ranch house.

She closed her eyes at the memory, her eyebrows knitted slightly as she moved to hide her face in her palm, the topkick must have seen this gesture she guessed, because he soon spoke up.

"You alright?"

She looked up, trying to remove the sorrowful expression from her face and just nodded.

"Well, long as you're sure. We're almost there."

She nodded, sitting up once more with a small sigh as she pushed those old memories back, after all, it was a long time ago, she came to this city after getting emancipated to start a new life, not to swim around in the memories of the past, sure, she never thought the new life would include having a chevy topkick that turned into an alien robot who happened to be her guardian, but, as she always said, roll with it, life's too short to stress over what you can't control.

Soon as they had pulled into her driveway, she grabbed her duffel bag from the passanger seat and moved to start getting out.

"You'll have to open the garage for me. Cause I ain't sittin' out here."

She gave a small smirk, nodding to Ironhide 'Give me a moment to clear a space, it's a three car garage, but I have to move parts out the way.' she signed, to which she just got a huff. She made her way to the garage door, opening it and getting inside, her radio was still playing from before the whole fiasco a few days ago, something by Styx was currently coming from the speakers, she just deposited her duffel onto her workbench and moved to start getting parts out of the way, once she finally got to the transmission she had been rebuilding for Sara, the governor assembly needed repair, but right now she was worried about moving it, not fixing it. She moved the cherry picker to secure it, moving to try and get the straps around the transmission when she hit that rib, causing her hand to go to it with a bit of a hiss, she had almost forgotten about that rib, she heard a voice from in front of her, looking up to see the speaker.

"Gotta be careful with that rib girl, lemme help you."

She paused just a second seeing him, once more those eyes as vibrant blue as the other Autobot holoforms had been, he was a good six inches taller than her, a black leather jacket with the Autobot insignia on a patch at the chest, medium length black hair which spiked out at the sides a bit as if of it's own accord, looked like it was styled just by running his fingers through it and leaving it at that. His face unshaven, causing a short beard, a scar around his left eye and a few more on what skin was visible, he had considerably sharp features and looked as if he was in his early-thirties if she had to guess. He had a considerably toned build, certainly looked like he worked out, or at least would if it wasn't a holoform. He had already begun helping her secure the straps around the transmission.

'Thank you' she signed to him once the straps were in place and the transmission lifted so she could move it off to the side.

"Not a problem, you need to be careful, Ratch would scrap me if you hurt that rib more when I coulda helped."

This brought a small soundless chuckle from the redhead as she moved to roll her bike out the way, though it wasn't too easy with the tires messed up as they were, Ironhide's holoform had moved to the bike at this point and taken over the task, moving it over near the workbench. She couldn't help but feel bad that he had to help her, she wasn't use to it in the least, but she did want that rib to heal, and if getting a little help meant it wasn't going to get re-injured, she wasn't about to complain, well, yet at least.

Soon as the bike was out of the way the holoform vanished, she heard Ironhide's truck form's engine start and moved out the way, thankful that the roof of her garage was tall enough to accommodate the smokestacks as he parked and she closed the garage door.

'I had better start getting that living room cleaned up' she signed to him once he had killed his engine.

"Yea, sorry bout the mess."

She just shrugged 'Shit happens.' she signed before making her way inside. She needed to get the glass up at least, the larger things could wait, but her main concern right now was food.

* * *

The living room had been somewhat cleaned, or at least the glass picked up and the broken items moved to the side, she had gotten a chance to eat, had put her cell's sim chip in her backup cell, only to have about fifty text messages from Sara wondering where the hell she was, she just explained that she had an accident, to which the blond threatened to go over there. Hopefully she wouldn't act on that threat, the redhead doubted Ironhide would want to put up with hearing her little blond friend going off about traffic safety. She was sitting at the work bench in her garage at this point, sanding the paint off her bike's damaged parts, Ironhide had already fussed at her a few times for her stubbornness, but she kept assuring him that she'd take a break if her rib started to bother her.

"'Least call Mikaela to help you, said she offered right?"

The redhead nodded, moving to sweep her hair out of her face with her healing forearm, she had abandoned the useless bandaging on it and many of the cuts were already healed, only the deeper ones remained so she saw no need for the gauze wrapping anymore.

"Well, stop bein' stubborn and take the help, since you're too impatient to let yourself heal before workin' on the slaggin' thing!"

She sighed, shaking her head a bit before signing 'I got it.' to him. She heard a huff come from the topkick before a few minutes of silence, she went back to sanding thinking the little debate was over.

"She'll be here soon."

Vic looked up, tilting her head a bit 'What?'

"I called her usin' my com link, Mikaela's on 'er way."

'You can do that?' she signed, a bit surprised, but she figured with what they could do, something like that shouldn't be too hard.

"Yea, not hard, just gotta use the right signal."

She sighed, nodding a little, she couldn't win the seatbelt argument, she couldn't win this debate, was there anything they would let her win? She was beginning to doubt it at this point, she went back to her sanding, having almost finished with one side of the front before she heard a knock on the garage side door. She moved the part to the side and stood to answer the door, and, sure enough, there was Mikaela, Sam standing right behind her, she looked behind them to see the bright yellow camero and hit the button for the garage door to open so he could get inside, she wasn't about to make the poor bot sit out in the sun.

"Ironhide called, said you needed help working on your bike." Mikaela said as Victoria moved to the side to let them in, Bumblebee pulling into the garage before she closed the door one more, thankful her garage was big enough to house them with room to spare, Sam's eyes went a bit wide as he looked around.

"Whoa, your garage is big." he said before looking over to where Ironhide was parked "Man, you could sit in here in your normal form without being all crammed."

"Yea, but I'd have to transform outside, too risky." the topkick responded as the girls made their way to the workbench, Victoria pulled a stool out from under the bench for Mikaela before sitting and looking over to where Sam and Ironhide were talking.

"Yea, I guess you're right there, might freak out her neighbors if they see a big robot in the front yard."

The redhead glanced over at the parts in front of her a moment before looking back ~It'd just not be right if he had to stay stuck as a truck all the time, don't know if it's even comfortable for them or not.~ she just sighed at the thought, it seems Mikaela heard her.

"You alright Victoria?" the brunette asked, she just nodded in response before the new friend continued "So, you live here with your family?" she asked as she grabbed a sheet of sand paper and started helping Vic deal with the damaged paint job on the parts of the bike she had laid out on her workbench.

Vic just shook her head, lowering her gaze a bit at the question.

"So you live in this big place alone? Where's your family at?"

The redhead sighed a moment, moving the part she had started working on to the side and pulling out her notepad a moment, writing only one word before handing the piece of paper to Mikaela. ~'Dead'~

The brunette's face saddened when she read it "Oh, I didn't know that, sorry."

Vic just shook her head, motioning a small wave to the side, hoping Mikaela understood that she was trying to tell her not to worry about it.

"What happened, if you don't mind me asking?"

The redhead paused a moment, her gaze downwards before she looked back to Mikaela. How could she explain it? She certainly would rather not write it all out, it was bad enough she could remember it all, and not having a voice, she couldn't just recount the happenings verbally, and though Mikaela understood common signs, she knew she didn't understand enough to follow the explanation. Victoria almost wished Sara was here at that point, her blond haired friend knew the story and would be more than able to explain what happened, even though Sara didn't know her back then, she had explained it to her friend not long after they first met, back when she still had her voice. The redhead shrugged after a while, it's not that she had a problem telling what happened, she just didn't really know how to.

"It's alright, don't worry about it if you don't want to tell me."

Victoria shook her head, grabbing her notepad and writing ~'It's not that, just don't know how to explain it. Writing can only go so far'~ and holding the notepad out to be read.

Mikaela nodded "It's alright, I would guess it'd be a lot to write. What about your voice, I see a scar on your throat, what happened there?"

The redhead looked over to where her guardian was at that point 'Can you tell her?' she signed to him.

"I guess." came the response "She told me she had somethin' fly up from another bike's tire durin' a street race that hit her in the throat and tore up her vocal cords."

'Thank you' she signed towards Ironhide before looking back at Mikaela.

"Street race huh? Talk about a random chance of something like that happening." Mikaela commented before Vic heard Sam chim in.

"Yea, I mean, hey, could have been worse though right? At least you didn't like, you know, die."

"~Thank the Lord, For small mercies~" she heard the clip from Depeche Mode's song come from Bumblebee's speakers, to this she just nodded, moving to go back to her work a moment before another knock came at the garage door, soon as it came, the two Autobots went into complete silence.

"VI! I know you're in there, I can hear your radio! What's this about you getting into a wreck?" she heard from outside the door, it was Sara, and she sounded livid. She moved from her seat with a sigh as Sam and Mikaela exchanged glances. She was just about to open the door when it opened itself, obviously Sara got tired of waiting.

The little blond stepped right in, pointing a finger right at her redheaded friend. ~And here it comes.~ Vic though before Sara stormed right towards her.

"You crazy, reckless pain in the ass speed demon! What'd you do this time? Play chicken with a red light?!" Sara fussed, the redhead just sighed, taking a step back from her highly ticked, and rather overprotective friend. "I asked you to go the speed limit, I asked you to be careful, but did you listen? Do you ever listen?! NO! And sure enough you get in an accident, you're lucky to be fucking standing right now!"

Victoria, just shook her head, her facial expression looking almost bored as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"Don't look at me like that! You're lucky your bike isn't totaled and even luckier you didn't hit your damned head! Then again, maybe it'd have knocked some sense into you if you had!" as Sara let loose she heard the sound of a throat clearing from behind her, the redhead glanced back to see it was Sam who made the noise. Sara paused after realizing, finally, that they weren't the only ones in the garage, and looking like a deer in headlights at the realization. Victoria just smirked.

"Uh, friend of your's Victoria?" Sam finally asked after a long, awkward silence, the redhead nodded, moving to tug Sara in front of her, hands at the blonde's shoulders. Her friend had just gone off at her in front of company, she'd be damned if she was getting away that easy. Sam moved forward offering a hand to the girl after a moment "Hi, Sam Whitwicky, nice to meet you."

Sara took the offered hand, shaking it as she, somewhat shakily, since she had just been shouting in front of them, introduced herself "Sara, Sara Marcel. Sorry about that, didn't see you guys standing there. God, I just made a total ass out of myself didn't I?"

"It's alright, you were worried about your friend, it's understandable." Mikaela said as she stood up and moved to shake Sara's hand "Mikaela Banes, nice to meet you Sara."

"Nice to meet you too." Sara said before turning back to the redhead behind her "OK, so how bad is the damage? I know you've probably already inspected every inch of that beloved bike of your's by now."

Victoria gave a small chuckle, moving to grab her pen and notepad to write her answer before holding it out for Sara ~'Repairable, mostly cosmetic, a hole in the gas tank but nothing I can't fix.'~ he smaller friend nodded after reading it.

"Alright then, and how bad did you get hurt?" The blonde asked, looking at Vic like she already knew the answer, seeing as she was standing here right now. Vic just held out the arm which was recovering from the slight road rash "Not too bad at least, still say you're damned lucky Vi, you're going to get yourself killed one day, I swear it." Sara said before giving a sigh, shaking her head at Vic "Mind if I grab something to drink? I walked here."

Vic gave a small smile, nodding to Sara and motioning to the door, after all, her friend knew where everything was in the house. As Sara made her way into the door, there was a small moment of silence, Vic counting down on her fingers and, sure enough, as soon as she got to one. . .

"HOLY SHIT WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED IN HERE!" came Sara's shout from within, prompting a small soundless chuckle from Vic as she got a bit of a funny look from Sam and Mikaela.

"Do I even want to ask?" Mikaela asked of Vic who just shook her head in response as Sara appeared in the doorway once more.

"I would ask if you had one hell of a party and forgot to invite me, but I know you're too anti-social for that, Vi, what the hell happened? It's a disaster area in there!" the blond said, looking just completely shocked, Vic shook her head, giving a small wave of her hand to try and tell Sara not to worry about it, this served to get quite the look from her friend who then threw her hands up in defeat "Fine, fine, I won't ask, knowing you I may be better off not knowing." she said before moving to the garage door to leave "Probably not the best time right now, text me later Vi." she said leaving, obviously a bit upset.

The redhead just sighed, shaking her head a bit and looking to the others 'Sorry' she signed to them, she felt kind of bad they had to see Sara's temper already, but it was bound to happen if they were going to be around her.

"Don't worry about it." Mikaela said as she went back to helping sand the paint from the parts they were working on, Vic made her way back to do the same, it was quiet a moment before Sam spoke up.

"'Kaela and me were thinking about heading to the beach later, since it's not too cold today, wanna come?" he asked, Vic figured to break the awkward silence, Vic looked over to him, she paused a moment and gave a small nod which got a smile from Sam "Cool!" was his only response, though Bumblebee's reply seemed a bit more excited.

"~All night on the beach till the break of dawn . . .~" came playing out of the yellow camero form of Bumblebee's speakers, this got a bit of a grunt from Ironhide and a silent laugh from Vic. She shook her head with a smile, no wonder she liked these guys.

* * *

Mid afternoon, it wasn't too cold, Tranquil beach was just that, tranquil, or at least it was until they showed up, volleyball net already set up, Bumblebee, in his holoform, Sam and Mikaela were having a field day while Ironhide's holoform stood not too far from where she was sitting on one of the chairs they had brought, her sketch pad in her lap as she just kept on drawing, though her sketching was soon interrupted.

"INCOMING!" she heard Sam shout, looking up just in time to see the volleyball coming right at her, she lifted her sketch pad up to block it, batting it away a little, she just smirked and shook her head a bit, not upset any, slightly amused to be honest as Bumblebee's holoform ran up to retrieve the runaway ball with a sheepish grin that said oops all over it.

Bumblebee's holoform suited him, or so Vic thought, black , unkept semi-long hair, but not too long, he looked young, maybe about 20 she would guess, she saw a scar across his neck which made her wonder if major injuries from their robotic forms transferred to their holoforms, she had noticed the scars on Ironhide's holoform but hadn't made the connection before. He wore a yellow t-shirt with black stripes going down the sleeves on his shoulders with the autobot insignia printed on the right chest of the shirt where a pocket would be on some.

He picked up the ball and held it in one hand before motioning for her to join them, she just shook her head before he gave her a pouty face, which she couldn't help but give a silent chuckle at, still shaking her head at the offer.

"If she don't want to, then leave the girl be." she heard Ironhide say from where he had been standing and watching.  
But it seemed Bumblebee wasn't taking no for an answer, as he soon moved to grab onto her wrist with his free hand and start trying to tug her out the chair, being careful doing so of course, since even his holoform was stronger than a normal human, Vic tried to tug back in protest, but she was smiling as her sketch pad slipped off her lap and onto the ground, she just kept shaking her head, trying to lean back to stop from being dragged, but it looked like she would have been laughing if she could.

Sam and Mikaela started laughing seeing Bumblebee trying to drag Vic so she actually had some fun with them, though Ironhide didn't think it was near as funny, he moved to grab Bumblebee's arm and shook his head at him.

"She don't want to Bumblebee, besides, she still got that hurt rib, she wouldn't be able to anyways." Ironhide stated as Bumblebee nodded acceptance, waiting for Vic to get her footing before letting go so she didn't tumble back onto her rear.

Once the redhead stood properly, she looked over at Ironhide a moment before smirking ~Like hell I'm gonna let a rib stop me.~ she thought before moving to walk right pass the two holoforms, swiping the volleyball from Bumblebee as she passed and jogged towards the volleyball net. Ironhide shot her a bit of a glare for it, but she shrugged signing to him 'I'll be careful.' Though Bumblebee smiled and sprinted back to where they were and tried to get the ball from her, though she held it behind her back to keep him from grabbing it. 'I'm serving.' she signed as he took a step back, Ironhide didn't look too happy about this, but she figured he'd get over it, after all, she couldn't just sit there all day because of a rib, it was only cracked, not totally broken after all.

"Alright, let's do this! Me and 'Kaela against you and 'Bee, ready when you are." Sam said from across the net, Vic nodded and stepped back a bit before throwing the ball up and bringing the arm on her uninjured side up for the serve, which Sam returned.

They kept the ball airborne for some time, the redhead was being very careful how much she moved, using only the arm on her unhurt side to return, which worked, seeing as Bumblebee seemed well able to cover where she couldn't get to, the day was going well so far, or at least it seemed to until she heard Ironhide's voice from where he had been standing.

"WE GOT COMPANY!" came his shout, Vic's gaze instantly snapped to where he was standing just in time to see his holoform vanish and his vehicle form off to the side of the beach transform, luckily the beach had been empty today so there was little chance of them getting spotted. Vic looked over the area a bit, trying to see just what he was talking about, though soon she saw it as a black and white robot lunged out from the woods near the beach and made right for Ironhide who was quick to turn his arm cannons on the attacker and fire. Bumblebee's holoform vanished at that as his camero form transformed to stand along side Ironhide, weapon activating. Vic soon heard Sam and Mikaela right behind her.

"We have to run. They can handle Barricade." Mikaela said, Vic nodded as they took off, she turned to follow, thus far she had been ignoring the minor soreness of her rib, but going into a full out run like that caused her to grit her teeth from the sensation, she wasn't moving near as fast as she normally could, she mentally cursed that rib and tried to push herself to keep up with the two ahead of her, they were heading for a nook in the rocks on the beach for cover as the sounds of cannon fire and metal on metal collision came from behind them.

They had made it to the rocks, ducking behind a larger one when Vic chanced a glance towards the fight, seeing Bumblebee leap at the attacking bot, a mask over the yellow autobot's face as he jumped on the attacker's back and aimed his cannon right at the back of the attacker's head, firing just as Ironhide let out another round aimed at the attacker's chest. The black and white decepticon went down, falling and transforming into a police car before hitting the ground, causing Bumblebee to be thrown off and land in a roll to regain his footing. It then sped off, Ironhide firing a few shots after it before turning to where they had ducked for cover and running towards them, Bumblebee following close behind him.

Once Ironhide had made it to their hiding spot, he bent down, Bumblebee coming to a stop at his side as the yellow autobot lifted the mask up, sliding it into place on his head.

"You guys alright?" Ironhide asked, Victoria just nodded as the three of them stood, Sam and Mikaela already making their way to climb up over the rock.

"Yea, we're fine, why the hell was Barricade way out here?" Sam asked once he had gotten on top the rock with Mikaela.

Ironhide shrugged "I don't know, guess he followed us, but he sure took his time before attacking." he said to Sam before looking back to the redhead. "How's your rib?" he asked her.

'A little sore, but nothing major.' Vic signed to him, he nodded to her before looking at all three of them, Mikaela and Sam had been letting Bumblebee know they were also fine.

"Alright, we better get out of here before any of his buddies show up." He said, Bumblebee nodded in agreement before they both transformed back into their car forms, Mikaela and Sam ran to get into Bumblebee's front seat as the redhead climbed over the rock and headed for Ironhide, once inside she heard him from the speakers once more "Put on your seatbelt, ain't got time to argue with you about it right now."

Vic just sighed, putting the annoying thing on as asked before motioning a bit as if to ask if her was happy now. The reply was just a bit of a grunt before the topkick and camero started away from the beach.

'Just what is he after?' she signed after a moment.

"Don't know Vic, but don't wanna stick around for him to bring backup." Ironhide replied, the redhead just sighed, relaxing against the back of the seat. Ironhide seemed to be driving a bit faster then normal, then again she couldn't blame him, after all, they had just been attacked. It wasn't long before they were home, Bumblebee had branched off with Mikaela and Sam a few blocks into the city, likely to bring them home she figured, it had grown dark by now after all.

Once Ironhide had come to a stop she got out to open the garage for him before closing it after he had gotten inside. 'Twice in such a short time.' she signed once he was inside.

"Yea, they're after something, don't know what though." Ironhide replied, the redhead sighed, moving to grab something to drink from her mini fridge before sitting on her workbench, they had gotten the parts sanded already and the hole in the gas tank fixed, now all that was left was to repaint and put them back, having help really was great, but she wasn't worried about that right now.

'So, that was Barricade's real form?' she signed before opening her cola.

"Yea, it was, don't know how I didn't realize he was there before, musta cloaked his signature." she heard Ironhide say before something that sounded a bit like a grumble, he was annoyed at the situation, that was obvious.

'So until we know what he's after, we just have to be ready to jump and run then?'

"I hate to say it, but pretty much."

'Great, I hate running.'

"You don't have much of a choice girl, you don't stand a chance against a decepticon."

'I know I stand no chance in a fight, but if we found a way to get a step ahead of them. . .'

"We've tried, they're sneaky, underhanded, honorless punks Vic, just when you think you got them figured out, they go and change their patterns."

'Like gorilla warfare. Least that's what it sounds like.'

"Pretty much what it is, they ain't got any morals Vic, not somethin' you wanna get in the middle of."

'Well, it's a little late for that, isn't it?'

"You still ain't a main target, don't make yourself one."

'And if they decide otherwise? He came here Ironhide, after me personally, he knows where I live which means the rest of his friends likely do too now. How long do you think it'll be until they decide to come here and attack again? Fact is we don't know what the hell they're after, they could just be being assholes or they could be after something we're unaware of. We don't know yet and I don't like being a damned sitting duck.' she signed very quickly, her face betraying her agitation and a bit of anger at the situation clearly. She was well aware of the fact that she didn't stand a chance against one of them, but the fact remained that Barricade had come to her home, her safe haven, and attacked her, she figured she had every right to be angry about it.

"Victoria, calm down, it won't help anything you gettin' mad." she heard Ironhide say to her, but it did no good at this point, she was quite upset at the whole situation.

'My home Ironhide, the only thing I have left, and he came here and attacked me, I think I have every right to be a bit pissed.' she signed just as quickly as before, it was lucky for her that cybertronians could pick up on such quick gestures.

Then she saw Ironhide's holoform appear, he walked right up to her and grabbed her wrists to try and get her to calm down, she tried to pull away from his grasp as he spoke "I know alright! Victoria, listen slag it, I know you're mad about it and I don't blame you alright? But gettin' mad and doin' something to put yourself at risk ain't gonna do any good! Look, you got a fighter spirit, I know, I see it, but this ain't your fight! I'm your guardian and by Primus I intend to do that job. You just have to let me alright? I don't want you to go gettin' yourself killed!" The redhead stopped trying to pull away from him, looking right in the eyes of his holoform, her eyes had started to show that mix of blue and green due to her increased blood pressure from getting so upset, she just looked at him for a while, her face relaxing a slight bit, though it was still rather tense before she just closed her eyes with a heavy sigh, looking down to try and hide her face behind her hair. He finally let go of her wrists, giving a sigh himself. "Look, go get some rest alright? It's gettin' late anyways."

Victoria looked up as he said that, shaking her head at him, her hair still laying over her face from before, but she didn't care right now. 'Not tired.' she signed, her face had softened mostly, but still held some of it's previously angered expression.

"You really are stubborn, ain't you?" He asked, Vic sighed, shaking her head a bit.

'Just not use to having help.' she signed, finally just admitting it, it was true. Since moving she had no one, sure, she had friends but they normally asked for her help, never the other way around, she had to be independent, it's all she had known for so long and habits like that were hard to break.

"Well, you got help now, rather you like it or not." he said before his own expression softened a bit, he moved to brush the hair out of her face, to which she just moved away slightly, but she allowed it. "You just got to get use to it."

'I'm going start on the living room.' she signed before standing from her seat on the workbench, only to feel his hand on her shoulder to stop her.

"Not with that rib you're not." he said as she looked over her shoulder at him, narrowing her eyes a bit before turning to face him.

'Then help, hell, you helped make the mess.' she signed, finally letting a smirk show on her face, even if it was a slightly forced one. Ironhide gave a slight chuckle, shaking his head a bit at the comment.

"Alright, since you'll probably do it anyways even if I don't help." he replied.

'Damn right.' she responded before turning to go inside, the holoform following her.

* * *

It was clean, there were still holes in the walls, but it was clean, with Ironhide's help it didn't take too long, it seemed the holoforms could lift heavier items a lot easier than any human could, then again she could have guessed that even the strength of a holoform was greater than that of a human after the fight with Barricade. Victoria couldn't help but be slightly jealous of that, she wasn't exactly weak herself, but compared to what they could do, she was a twig and she knew it. ~They're not human Vic, don't compare yourself against their standards.~ she reminded herself as she laid on the sofa, it was morning now, she didn't even remember laying down but she assumed she had, that or she had fallen asleep in the chair and been moved to the sofa, she wasn't sure which, her glasses were still on so she figured it was likely she didn't get to the sofa herself as she always took her glasses off before going to sleep.

Once she was aware enough she sat up, glancing around the room a bit, even with the broken items picked up it was still in shambles, huge holes in the walls, shelves missing, she sighed, shaking her head a bit, she'd worry about it later, she just woke up and was in no mood to do home repair right now. She got up, the nagging soreness in her ribs getting her attention, but it wasn't too bad for right now, and made her way to the kitchen, grabbing a poptart and cola before heading to the garage.

"Well, it's bout time you got up." She heard as soon as she walked through the door, looking right at Ironhide as he continued. "We got a problem, Bumblebee picked up more decepticon activity in town, a pretender at that, as well a Barricade making a few rounds."

The redhead tilted her head a bit, looking slightly puzzled 'Pretender?' she signed, she hadn't been told about those yet.

A huff came from the topkick "A decepticon that has a human alt mode."

'Not good. . .' was all she signed in response.

"No, it's not. Could be anyone, they're hard to track. The others know, they're gonna be keeping an optic out on the area. Rather if you came back to the warehouses with us though."

'Ran out of my home again.'

"It's for your safety, we can protect you better there."

'And keep me away from everything I have? No, the answer is no.'

"You're bein' difficult."

'Did you expect anything else from me?'

There was an annoyed grunt from Ironhide, a small silence afterwards before he spoke up once more "If they start gettin' too close, you're coming back with the rest of us, no arguments." he sounded dead serious on that, that tone only confirmed when he added the final statement "Even if I have to drag you there."

The redhead just glared at him a moment, her fists balled out of frustration, it took her a moment to get herself calmed enough to actually sign 'I stopped running a long time ago, I don't intend to start again now.' she said as she turned sharply to walk back inside, only to be met with Ironhide's holoform blocking her way.

"What is it with you? You act like you don't care if you live or die, I'm startin' to think you really do have a death wish!" he scold, she tried to push pass him only to have her shoulders grabbed as he forced her to face him "Answer me." he near growled out, she just shook her head.

'You wouldn't understand.' she signed as she stepped back, he actually let her do so, releasing his grasp on her shoulders.

"You don't know that." he simply stated, she sighed, shaking her head a bit before motioning him to follow her as she went to walk back inside, he did, and once they were back in the living room she went towards the book shelf, which she had been amazed avoided major damage compared to most everything else in the room. She pulled an old newspaper from the shelf and walked back over to him, more of less shoving it at the holoform's chest.

'That's why.' was all she signed as she saw him look at the headline ~'F5 levels Texas ranch, Three killed'~ he looked back at her, looking as if he was about to ask something when she was already signing an answer 'You asked what happened to my family. There's your answer.'

"Still no reason to not care about your own life." he responded as he placed the paper on the chair nearby, his voice was not quite as angry as before as he continued "It's not like you coulda done anything."

'I should have died that day, I'm on borrowed time.' she signed, looking away after that statement only to have Ironhide step up to her and grab her by the shoulders once more, she snapped her gaze back to him as she saw him shake his head.

"Don't think like that. You got too much of a fighter spirit to throw it away."

'Not like it's doing me much good. Seeing how Barricade was able to just throw me across the room.' she signed, getting a sigh from Ironhide as he let go of her and took a step back, he seemed to be thinking about something, but the redhead ignored it and moved to put the old newspaper back on the shelf, why she still saved it was beyond her, but she just couldn't let it go fully. It was a part of her past, a part of what made her who she was, even if she tried to deny it at times, it was a scar that ran deeper than any physical one could.

She hadn't even turned around when she heard him speak, his voice causing her to look over her shoulder at him "Well, you can't expect a sword to do much good against a decepticon, they're fine against humans, but they ain't gonna make a dent in one of them."

Victoria looked ahead once more, her head bowed slightly "It's. . .all I had. . .at the time. . ." she whispered in an exhale, an airy, hard to hear sound, something she rarely ever did because of how difficult it was for her to form words in such a manner, it hurt to a point to even try, but not too badly. She wasn't sure he heard her at first, though when he spoke up next it confirmed he had.

"Then we're just gonna have to do somethin' about that, since you're too stubborn to run and I'll be slagged if I'm gonna let you try and fight without somethin' that'll actually slow 'em down." he said, crossing his arms over his chest as the redhead turned to look at him.

'Just what do you suggest then?' she returned to signing since whispering was so difficult for her.

"I need to talk to Optimus bout it, meet you in the garage." he said as the holoform vanished, she heard his engine start up from the garage and made her way there, opening the garage door for him before getting into his alt form's cab. She then heard him from the sound system "Do I have to keep remindin' you?" he asked, she just sighed and put on the seatbelt, she had enough of the arguing for the day.

Once her seatbelt was secured they pulled out the driveway, it was silent for a while, it was starting to get on her nerves, she was still a bit aggravated and this awkward silence wasn't helping any. Normally she would have turned on the radio, but Ironhide wasn't exactly a normal truck and turning it on would take the term pushing someone's buttons to a whole new meaning, so she just sat, trying to calm herself down completely. It wasn't too long before they made it to the clearing, she got out to let Ironhide transform, she was starting to get use to the sight a bit, but it was still amazing. She glanced around, seeing the twins being, well, the twins not too far from them, Sideswipe looked completely unamused by their antics, not as if she could blame him.

"I'll be back in a few, going talk to Optimus." she heard Ironhide say, snapping her gaze back to him, she just nodded before he turned and walked off. She glanced over to where Sideswipe and the twins were before making her way over there, after all, it looked like Sideswipe could use some company, at least company that didn't get on his last nerve.

Sideswipe looked up seeing her coming, he smiled a little as she walked up to him, giving a small wave. "Hey Vic, couldn't keep away huh?"

The redhead gave a small smirk, shaking her head a bit 'Ironhide needed to talk to Optimus. Looked like you could use some company.' she signed as she moved to sit on a nearby crate. The twins were aware of her presence now as she saw them stop fussing and look at her.

"Yo Vic, how ya doin' girl!" said Skidz, or was it Mudflap? She couldn't remember which was which with these two, she just knew it was the green one, she gave a small wave before she saw the red twin give the green a shove.

"Yo man, ah wasn' done talkin' to ya!" she heard the red one fuss before they went right back to their bickering, Vic just shook her head, looking to Sideswipe.

'They never do give it a break, do they?' she signed and the silver autobot just nodded.

"You get use to them, or they drive you crazy, one or the other." he said with a chuckle, the redhead just shook her head with a slightly amused look on her face as she looked back at the twins just in time to see one flip the other over his back, making quite an impact on the ground, causing both her and Sideswipe to flinch slightly.

'That didn't sound good' She signed.

"No, no it didn't" Sideswipe agreed before calling out to the twins "If Ratch blows a circuit when he has to fix you two again, don't say I didn't warn you!"

The twins ignored him, they seemed too busy knocking the hell out of each other to listen, Victoria just faceplamed before signing 'Hopeless.'

She saw Sideswipe nod in agreement before he turned to her, leaning down a bit to be closer to eye level "Let's get someplace where you won't have to worry about ducking flying twins." he said as he offered her his hand to climb up on, the redhead nodded in agreement and climbed into his hand, OK, so maybe being carried wasn't too bad, least she didn't have to look up as far to look them in the eyes, or optics as she had been corrected, this way.

Sideswipe started skating off towards one of the warehouses, the one which held the lounging area and what Vic had dubbed the offices. He skated inside with her, doing a sharp turn to stop and place her on the ground "There, at least it's quieter in here, I'll tell you, those twins make way too much noise for their size."

The redhead nodded in agreement 'Yes, they do. Glad I don't have to put up with them too much.' she signed before moving to just cross her arms over her chest again.

"Some of us aren't so lucky." Sideswipe responded as he moved to sit on the floor nearby "But, they're decent fighters, so can't exactly judge them too harshly."

Vic nodded, giving a small sigh as she uncrossed her arms to respond 'I guess so, still surprised they're still in one piece personally, but none the less. I've been wondering, how do your holoforms work? I understand it is hard light projections, but to be a projection wouldn't it have to remain in sight of the source?' she signed, tilting her head slightly.

Sideswipe just nodded "You would think so, but we don't project our holoforms from ourselves, we release a small projector, something only about as large as a small coin, it holds the projector and matter generator, You have to remember how advanced our technology is, each small projector can only be used once, it's energy is depleted once we turn off our holoform. Let me just show you." he said as his robotic body went still and his holoform activated, standing in front of where Victoria was as he continued "Now, you can't see it right now because the projector is inside my holoform, in the chest area actually, now, I'll turn off my holoform, look on the ground afterwards." he said as the holoform faded and his robotic body's optics reactivated, the redhead looked onto the ground to see a small silver disk.

She bent down and picked up the disk, something only about the size of a dime, it was slightly warm to the touch, as she inspected it, flipping it over in her fingers as she heard Sideswipe speak up once more.

"That is the projector, we deploy one each time we use our holoforms, that's how we do it, if it gets damaged the holoform it was used for gets shut down, it's why it is in the holoform's chest, projects it from the inside out. I don't know all the technical stuff though, I just know it works." he explained, the redhead looked up to him with a small smirk before looking back at the disk.

'Interesting' she signed before inspecting the disk a bit more ~If damaging this thing disengages a holoform then maybe I can find a way to use that if one of the decepticons attacks with a holoform again.~ she thought before she heard heavy metallic footsteps coming down the hall, she pocketed the disk she was looking at as she looked to see Ironhide coming into the lounge.

The dark mech looked right at her before speaking "Cmon Vic, lets head back." was all he said before moving to walk outside. Victoria nodded as she followed, waving to Sideswipe before she went outside just as Ironhide had finished converting to his alternative mode, the door opened and she got inside, not feeling like being scolded about the seatbelt this time, so she went ahead and got it on for once before they pulled off.

It was silent a moment as they made it onto the old abandoned road once more before Ironhide finally spoke up. "Look in the glove box, it's not much, but it might help."

The redhead tilted her head a bit before leaning forward to look, upon opening the compartment she saw an odd looking weapon, it looked similar to a gun but of a very foreign design. She pulled it from the confines and looked over the weapon, the metal was rather dark, the edges smoothed, the barrel seemed to be filled with conduction coils of some kind, she just looked at it a bit confused for a few moments.

Her observations where disturbed by Ironhide's voice, likely due to him seeing her puzzled reaction "Now don't go thinkin' you can take one of 'em down with it. I got Optimus to agree to letting you use a sensor disruptor, it'll mess up their optics and audio receptors for about a minute, giving you enough time to run, but that's it. It's to keep your stubborn aft from gettin' killed, not for you to try and fight 'em, got it?"

Victoria nodded as she put the weapon in her lap to sign 'Better than nothing.' before looking over it again, it was only about the size of a .45, not small but not too bulky, something she could keep out of view so it would always be with her. She moved to put it away in one of her cargo pant's pockets, it would have to do until she fashioned a holster, before signing once more 'He actually agreed to letting me use something like this? Thought he was against letting humans use weapons from your people's technology.'

"Yea, he is, but I told him my worries bout you bein' too stubborn to back down, so he agreed to let you use something that isn't damaging. But still, if one of 'em comes after you, you run, that thing's like a stun gun to you humans, it's no way to take down an attacker, just lets you get away." Ironhide said with a small huff, she was beginning to wonder if he was already getting fed up with her, most did rather quickly so it wouldn't surprise her if she was getting on his nerves already.

She just sighed, giving a small nod, signing thanks to him as they fell back into silence, heading back into town and back to her home.

* * *

It was finished, finally, after working almost the whole day, her baby was back together, sure she hadn't had the chance to redo the airbrushed phoenixes on it yet, but the base paint job was done and the gold wing was back in one piece. Ironhide had given up fussing at her after about four hours, seemed he was learning quickly just how stubborn this redhead could be, though he had threatened to call Mikaela over again, he didn't make good on that threat this time. It was late afternoon, she knew it would be growing dark soon but that didn't worry her any.

"OK, it's finished, you happy now?" she heard the agitated tone from the topkick, she couldn't help but smirk a bit, after all, she hadn't taken it for a test drive yet, sure she was pretty certain the repairs were done right, she had done them after all, but she still needed to test drive it.

'Almost.' she signed before grabbing the keys and going to get on the bike.

"Oh no you're not, first you still have that hurt rib, second, don't forget what I told you earlier, bout Bumblebee pickin' up decepitcon activity in the area, you're not goin' joyridin', not alone for certain." came the reaction she expected.

Victoria just started up the bike anyways before looking over to Ironhide and signing 'Then come with me, if you think you can keep up.' she just smirked afterwards, she fully intended to go for a ride, no matter if he liked it or not.

"No, it's not safe for you to go out for a ride right now, just stop arguing."

'Sorry Ironhide, but you don't have a choice, either come with me or I'm going on my own." she signed as she hit the button to open the garage before getting ready to pull out.

At that she saw his holoform activate and move to stand right in front of her bike, hands on the handlebars and just glaring at her. "Like slag I ain't got a choice. You're not goin'. If I have to stop you I will. There's a pretender out there and it probably knows exactly what you look like. I'd rather not have to worry bout some punk aft decepticon attacking you. Least wait til it's safe a'right?"

Vic gave a defeated sigh, shaking her head a bit 'Fine.' she signed.

"Good, nice to se you got some common sense." he said as the holoform faded.

~Good, he bought it~ she thought before smirking and peeling out of the garage, like hell she was going to let someone be so overprotective, she could hear him shouting something from behind her as she pulled off, the sound of him pulling out as well, the screech of his tires as he pulled onto the road to give chase, she couldn't help but smirk, turning on her bike's radio and turning it up when she heard Bon Jovi's It's My Life playing before she gunned the engine ~Let's see if he can keep up.~ she thought to herself as she took a sharp turn, leaning the bike with it to maneuver better, it was a straight shot from here, weaving in and out of the light late afternoon traffic, chancing a quick glance behind her to see he was actually keeping up pretty well for a topkick.

She was heading right for city limits, she knew there were open roads beyond that and plenty of space, free from the confines of this town. She was almost at the last red light before freedom when she looked back once more, smiling a bit seeing he was keeping up with her, she then looked forward once more and sped up, hitting 80 MPH at this point as she flew past the city limits, only picking up speed afterwards, it was nothing but open road from here, her freedom, her domain, her retreat, this was what she lived for, her speed climbing, 90, 100, she pushed it to 120 before she was satisfied, Ironhide still keeping up, she didn't know how but he was, she figured it must have had something to do with their technology, they weren't normal vehicles after all.

She tore down the road, following it for a ways before veering off onto the ground, she knew there was a large strip of uninhabited land here, it went on for miles with no one in sight, and since bikes could handle off-road pretty well, she often made her trips here for her rides. She didn't have to worry about cops here or other traffic, it was just freedom. She could still hear Ironhide's engine behind her, though it wasn't long before he had managed to get on the side of her since she hadn't gone over 120 yet.

Sure enough he started shouting "What do you think you're doin'? Stubborn!" Vic just shrugged, she couldn't sign right now, she needed both hands for that and wasn't about to let go of the handlebars going 120. "Look! Just stop alright? It ain't safe, 'specially not with how fast you're goin'!" Vic just shook her head a bit, she had no intentions of stopping yet, she just motioned with one hand for him to follow quickly before returning that hand to the handlebars, she didn't like not having both hands at the handlebars long at this speed. She heard a loud grunt come from the topkick "You're not goin' to listen are you?" The readhead just shook her head at the question before pushing her bike harder, hitting 130 within about a minute.

Ironhide kept on following, she knew he was not going to be happy after this, but this was how she got her mind off of things, how she took out her frustration, and the destination was worth it as well, what Sara never knew was that it wasn't just the ride itself Victoria looked forward to, but it was where she went on those rides and why she always returned well after dark. Pushing a bit more she hit 135, she knew her bike could go 150 at least if she pushed it, but she wasn't sure if the topkick would be able to keep up with that, he was fast but he wasn't a bike, wind resistance effected him a lot more.

Soon she slowed a bit, veering to the west and following a path she knew well, one worn down by all of her trips here, a path that led to her favorite spot in this state, a small out of the way beach, she had gotten her speed down to 25 shortly, Ironhide following close behind. Soon the dirt path they were on gave way to sand, a rocky beach, only about 80 feet long and sheltered by tall cliffs on each side, spread out before them. She came to a stop, killing her bike's engine before lowering the stand and getting off. She looked over to Ironhide before signing 'You can transform here, don't think anyone else even knows this place exists.'

Ironhide gave a grunt before doing so and glaring right at her "What were you thinkin' taking off like that? I told you there's decepticon activity in the area, and going that fast, you hit 135! Why are you so slaggin' stubborn?"

'Freedom Ironhide, that's why. Besides, I've been needing a chance to clear my head, it's why I come here.'

"I could have driven you here you know? Instead of you pullin' that stunt!"

Vic just sighed, shaking her head 'No offense, but it's not the same.'

"So you'd rather risk your safety? I don't get it Vic, you must be slaggin' glitched or somethin'."

'I don't expect you to get it, most don't.' She signed before walking onto the beach, moving to climb onto and sit on one of the larger rocks there, one which had a few small etchings on it from her previous visits, Ironhide followed, standing behind where she had sat.

"So, what's so special bout this place then?" he asked as she glanced back at him before motioning to the horizon, the sun had already begun to set, a few thin lines of clouds crossing over the bright orb, painting the ocean with all shades of red, orange, yellow and purple, the sun reflecting on the uneven surface as the waves broke at the rocks on the beach, the sprays reflecting the sunset's colors and glistening like small liquid jewels in the fading light as even the sand seemed to take on the tones of the sunset. The redhead always loved this beach, this time, it was beautiful, surreal almost, something she found to be the perfect example of the beauty of this world, something so few actually took the time to notice, but she enjoyed it, she may live fast before she knew enough to stop and enjoy small wonders like this when she had the chance.

"I think, I see why you come here." she heard Ironhide say from behind her, pulling her gaze from the sunset and looking over to him as he moved to sit on the side of the rock she had perched herself on.

Victoria gave a small nod 'This is the most beautiful place I have found, I come here every Saturday normally. I was on my way here when I literally ran into Ratchet.'

Ironhide gave a slight chuckle "He still feels bad about hitting you."

'It's not his fault, you saw how I drive. Yes, I always drive like that.'

"No wonder that friend of your's, Sara, was fussin' so much."

'She's always like that, I'm use to it, but she's a good friend so I can't hold it against her.'

"She's right you know."

'Not you too.'

"Well you drive like, what's the term, a bat outta hell? You don't wear a helmet, you weave in and out of traffic, you ran every red light and stop sign. Do I need to keep goin'?"

'I know, but it's just how I am, life's too short to live afraid to take risks.'

"You said earlier you're livin' on borrowed time, you're contradictin' yourself."

'No, I'm not if you think about it. Seeing them die made me realize life can be short, it can be taken from us at any moment. They had so much they wanted to do that they always said they would one day, when they got up the courage, but they never got the chance. When they died, I promised myself I would never say maybe one day. When I leave this life, I want to be able to leave it knowing I lived the life I wanted, not a life left unfulfilled due to fear.'

There was a long silence after she had signed that last statement, she had returned her gaze to the setting sun, the sky growing darker by the moment as that glowing orb seemed to be swallowed by the ocean, a few stars were already visible at this point. The silence was finally broken by a sigh from the mech to her side, she looked over to him, seeing he was looking at the sunset himself.

"I get it." was all he said after a long while, he then looked towards the redhead before continuing. "Just, next time, don't take off like that, I don't want to turn chasin' you down into a habit."

Vic gave a soundless chuckle, shaking her head slightly before signing 'You didn't seem to want to let me go. I had to take the opportunity when I saw it.'

"Still can't believe you pulled that."

'It worked didn't it?'

"Yea, but still."

'But still what?'

"It was underhanded."

'And?'

"And crazy."

'No, I'm only half crazy, the other half I don't admit.'

This got a chuckle from the mech and Vic couldn't help but smirk. "What am I gonna do with you?"

Victoria just shrugged before signing 'Hope I don't drive you crazy?'

"You're well on your way."

'Don't know, you had to be at least a little glitched, as you say, to volunteer to be my guardian.'

"Maybe I am, Ratchet sure seems to think so sometimes."

'Oh he'd have had a heart attack if he had seen what I did this afternoon.'

"Are you kiddin' me? He'd have blow a circuit! I ain't tellin' him bout this. He's a great friend and all, but I'd never hear the end of it, neither would you."

'Trust me, I have no intention of telling him.'

"Good." Ironhide said with something akin to a small smile before she saw him look at the near fully set sun "It's gettin' dark, we should get back. At least let me drive on the way back, you can put the bike in the back."

Victoria nodded as they both stood, Ironhide transformed back into his alt mode before his holoform activated, moving to help her down from the large rock she was standing on, she just kind of gave him a funny look, it's not like it was a far jump down, then again she figured he was likely worried about that rib of hers. She just kind of shrugged before accepting the help and moving to get the bike in the bed of his truck form with his assistance, after all, gold wings weren't exactly light bikes. Once it was in and secure, his holoform faded and she got into the driver's seat. She only hoped Ironhide remembered the way back, though if he didn't she knew she could always give him directions. One thing was for certain, she had needed this outing, and the company of a new friend this time didn't hurt.


	3. Thunderstruck

It had been two weeks now, she was actually getting use to it, imagine that, getting use to having a giant alien robot who turned into a truck in her garage, though he wasn't just an alien robot now, he was also a friend, an overprotective friend, but a friend. It was actually getting hard to look at them as aliens, she knew they were from a different planet, she was mute, not blind after all, but they acted so similar it was hard to dismiss. She had given up on trying to make all the comparisons at this point, they were sentient and were just like people in robotic bodies, that was enough for her, she saw no reason to stress over the details.

The now repaired living room lit up in a flash as the redhead near jumped out of her skin at the loud clap of thunder that followed, she almost dropped her lit cigarette due to it, but managed to keep it in her grasp. She always hated thunderstorms, sure, they were uncommon here, and she was glad for that, but any time one did come along she got very jumpy. It was one thing she truly feared, though she knew tornadoes didn't really happen here, it still made her ready to run, and when the next clap of thunder sounded, she did just that.

She got off the sofa she was sitting on and ran right out the living room and to the garage, where she knew Ironhide would be parked, she also knew he might laugh at her for being so scared of a thunderstorm, but she much preferred having company until the storm passed. She had barely gotten into the garage when she heard him.

"Whoa, where you runnin' to like that? You better not be thinking of goin' riddin' in this weather." she heard come from the black topkick form of Ironhide. She just briskly shook her head in response as she stubbed out her cigarette in an ashtray she kept on her work table before another clap of thunder made her jump, before either of them knew it she had already hopped into the bed of Ironhide's alt mode and sat down, almost looking like she was trying to hide from the storm. She figured she must have looked ridiculous hiding from a storm like some child, but she was scared to death of lightning and thunder.

Not a moment after she had made that jump into the truck bed she heard quite the rolling laugher come from Ironhide, the alt mode actually shaking a good bit from it, it seemed he found this whole situation rather amusing as she saw his holoform activate near to the truck form and stand at it's side, looking at her and laughing his ass off still.

'Shut up!' she signed at him, glaring the best she could considering her shaken demeanor.

"Don't tell me, you're scared of thunderstorms!" he managed through his laughter at her situation. She just flipped him off before jumping at another loud bit of thunder and hugging her knees to her chest, here she was scared out of her mind and he had the nerve to laugh at her because of it, she was so going to pay him back for this, once she was done acting like a little girl with a phobia.

"I can't believe it, you? Scared of a harmless thunderstorm?" he just shook his head, stilling his laugher for a moment, Vic managed a bit better glare this time before he held out a hand to her. "Cmon, hidin' in the back of my alt mode isn't gonna do any good." he said, she just shook her head at him.

'I'm fine right here.' she signed before wrapping her arms around her legs once more as another roll of thunder shook the garage. She was quite content to stay right where she was until the storm passed.

Ironhide, however, didn't seem to be happy with that answer, as his holoform soon climbed into his alt mode's truck bed and actually picked her right up without any kind of real effort before jumping down back to the ground, seeing as her rib was pretty much healed by now it didn't jolt her this time, though, unfortunately for Ironhide, another loud and sudden clap of thunder was heard, causing the redhead to cling to his holoform harshly, the blue eyes went a bit wide in surprise a moment before he just started laughing at her again, moving to put her back on her feet not a moment too soon for her to move to pop him in the back of the head, he ducked it, she kind of figured he would, after all, he had to of gotten use to that habit of hers by now.

"Look, just calm down, it's a thunderstorm, it's not like it's gonna hurt you." he said as he tried to coax her to sit down, which was likely a good idea so he didn't get clung to again.

She sat, she was a bit shaky, but she sat none the less, looking up to him with an attempted, and likely failed glare 'I fucking hate thunderstorms.' she signed as his holoform disappeared, she looked down, seeing the small disk that was the projector fall to the ground, she had taken to looking to see where they landed ever since Sideswipe had told her about them.

"Look, you're safe alright? Don't worry bout it, storm will pass." he said this time from his alternative mode, the redhead just sighed before tensing as she heard the thunder once again.

~Why the hell do I still let these bother me, tornadoes don't happen here, you ain't gotta worry bout it here.~ she thought as she took out her cigarettes from her pocket and lit up another one before setting the pack on the table she was sitting on, she smoked like a chimney when there was a storm, it was something that at least helped calm her nerves, not much, but a little.

"I ain't one to preach, but you really need to stop smokin' those things." She heard Ironhide say almost as soon as she had lit it up.

'Everyone says that, it's not that easy.' she signed, careful of the location of the cigarette as she did so, she had burned herself signing while smoking enough times in the past to know to be well aware of where that lit cherry was.

"Like anything's easy? Ya killin' yourself with them, even if you don't feel it yet."

'Ratchet said about the same thing, and I know, but it's not an easy habit to break.' she signed before taking another drag from the smoke. She heard a bit of a grumble from the mech before he spoke up again.

"I'll help you break the habit if you want."

'And you intend to do that how?' she signed before she saw his holoform activate once again and walk right towards her.

"Simple." he said before grabbing the pack that she had set on the table and crushing it in the holographic hand before pointing at the cigarette she currently had lit "That's your last one, and I'll just do the same to any other pack I see."

She glared at him something fierce, if she could have growled or started yelling she would have, but sadly for her that wasn't an option for expressing her anger, Ratchet had just scolded her about the habit, Ironhide on the other hand, was a lot more straight forward with it, she knew it wasn't a healthy habit, but to just crush the pack, that was a bit harsh.

He must have noticed the glare he was getting, then again how could you miss a look like that when it was aimed at you, as he threw his holoform's hands up defensively. "Hey, you asked, you got your answer." he said as he tossed the crushed pack into the trash can nearby.

'That's just wrong.' she signed to him, the look on her face still a good bit upset, she didn't state that she actually wanted to quit, she was just curious how he intended to help if she had. She hadn't exactly expected him to do that and once again that feeling of being a bit trapped returned to her. He was protective, too protective, at least she thought so, and she didn't understand why he was being that way towards her, it's not like she was a kid or anything, she was a grown woman more than capable of making her own choices, and it's not like she didn't know the risks. She was almost tempted key his door for that, but knowing that was a part of him it would be like attacking someone if she did that. She was going to get him back for that and for laughing at her, once she figured out a way to do it that wasn't too mean.

"No, what's wrong is that you don't care bout your fraggin' health" his voice snapped her from her plotting revenge for the events today.

'I'm an adult Ironhide, I know the risks, I'm not stupid.' she signed before taking yet another drag of the last cigarette she had due to him killing her pack.

"Then why do you do things like that if you know the risks?" he asked, crossing his arms over his chest and waiting for her answer.

'Because I choose to.' was her only reply.

"I can understand your risk takin' on your bike, you explained that, even though I don't like you doin' it, I can understand why. But that. . ." he pointed at the cigarette she was smoking before continuing ". . .don't make any sense. Just stop it, and I won't fuss at you for your little joyrides, sound like a deal?"

Vic just sighed, looking down a bit before nodding and looking back up to him and signing her answer 'Fine, but don't get mad when I start getting temperamental because of nicotine withdrawals.'

"When ain't you temperamental Vic, really?" he said rather bluntly, she knew it was a rhetorical question and he did have a point, after all, Sara didn't call her a crazy redheaded bitch for nothing, but it was just how she was, she knew it, she would even admit it, but it was just who she was.

Then another clap of thunder hit, a loud one, making her jump almost to the point of falling off the table she was sitting on, Ironhide must have also seen her almost fall as his hand was on her shoulder to steady her before she knew it. OK, so maybe having someone being protective of her wasn't exactly a bad thing, but it still drove her crazy. She looked up to him and nodded, motioning that she was alright.

"Gotta be careful, your rib just healed after all, don't need you breakin' something else." he said as he withdrew his hand, Vic simply sighed, finishing her cigarette, her last cigarette, before putting it out in the ashtray nearby. As she was doing this she had missed a look of worry coming across the face of Ironhide's holoform.

She went to look back towards him just as she heard him speak up "Victoria, I just got a com from Ratch, there's a problem, I'll explain on the way." he said as the holoform vanished and the door of Ironhide's alt mode opened and she got in, she didn't even have a chance to close the door before he shut it on his own and she felt the seatbelt slide over her and secure her. Something Ironhide normally didn't do, if he was in that much of a hurry then something had to be very wrong. The garage door was already opening when she heard him from the sound system. "You got the sensor disrupter on you?" she just nodded, patting the holster she had fashioned that was at her thigh. At that Ironhide pulled out of the garage, the redhead keeping her hands well away from the steering wheel, she had a bad feeling about this, she didn't know why, maybe it was the mech's much sterner than usual demeanor.

'What's happening?' she signed once they were on the road, she still flinched when she saw lightning branch across the sky, the rain was coming down hard, pelting the windshield of Ironhide's topkick form heavily ~Great, as if the thunderstorm wasn't enough.~ she thought as she looked at the autobot symbol on the steering wheel, waiting for his answer.

"Barricade attacked, Starscream's with him, they damaged Bumblebee, Ratch is tryin' to hold 'em off but Sam's hurt, nothin' too serious, yet. The other's are too far to make it in time, we gotta get Sam out of there." the answer finally came and Vic's face went serious before the mech continued. "Listen, we ain't stayin' to fight, backup's comin' but we gotta get Sam out of there, I don't like havin' to bring you to a fight, but he might need your help to get in. Just grab Sam, get him inside so I can get both of you out of there, you hear me?"

The redhead gave a stern nod in response as Ironhide barreled down the road, he took the back roads to avoid having to weave through traffic, reaching speeds that no normal truck could handle on this rain slicked surface, but somehow he avoided hydroplaning, she assumed it was due to their technology, most things they could do were explainable that way, then again, the truck was him and a person always had more control over their own bodies than anyone would of a vehicle being simply a driver. She shook herself from the thoughts as she heard thunder once again, causing her to jump once more. ~Now is not the time to ask how they do things, gotta keep focused. Wait, Starscream? The others mentioned him but I don't know much about him. Might wanna ask before we get there.~ she thought before looking to the autobot emblem once more and signing 'I don't know much about Starscream, what's his alternative mode?'

"A F-22 Raptor, a fighter jet Vic."

'Shit, so you mean he can fly, well that's just great. What about Ratchet? If they injured Bee, and he's against two of them, we can't just leave him to fight them off on his own.'

"Ratch can handle himself, it's just until the others arrive. He may be a medic but he ain't a pushover."

'And if they take too long they might take him down, then not only will you be down two fighters but your medical personnel as well.'

"It's too risky Vic, trust me, I wanna be able to provide backup for Ratchet, but I gotta get you and Sam the pit away from the fight."

'I don't like it.'

"You ain't the only one, but that's how it goes sometimes."

The redhead just sighed, placing her hand on the holster at her thigh. Yes, she was normally stubborn, reckless and headstrong, but she didn't like running, she never did. This whole situation made her feel so useless, being unable to help, knowing they were going to leave Ratchet to fend for himself against not one but two decepticons, it infuriated her that she couldn't help, she understood that Ironhide had to keep her, and in this case Sam, safe, but that still didn't help her anger about the situation. Knowing Bumblebee was already hurt sure didn't help any there, if the decepticons did manage to take Ratchet down, the yellow bot would be helpless. Her fists balled, she could feel her nails biting into her palms due to it, she hated it. She hated being useless, these bots had become her friends over these short couple of weeks and she was not the type to turn her back on those she saw as friends, she was weak compared to them, she knew that, but there had to be something she could do, she didn't like feeling helpless and she'd be damned if she didn't do something about it.

Ironhide made his way through the roadways quickly, wasting no time, she couldn't much blame him, not only was a human in danger, but his friend was fighting and outnumbered with one ally already downed, the redhead still tensed at each flash of lightning, but much to her relief they seemed to be becoming a bit less common, though the rain was still beating down on them mercilessly. The weather today matched the mood, or at least, it did in her eyes.

* * *

They weren't even at the location of the fight just yet when the sounds of the struggle behind the trees was able to be heard, weapons fire, metal making harsh contact with metal, it was almost sickening. A few rounds made it beyond the trees, crashing into the ground closer to them. Luckily this wasn't a highly populated area, though that wasn't too much of a relief.

"Remember what I said, get Sam and get out, don't want you around this any longer then you gotta be." Ironhide's voice came from the sound system once more, Victoria nodded as she brought her hand to rest on the grip of the sensor disruptor.

They made their way pass the trees and she could finally see the scene of battle, Bumblebee was laying still off to the side, parts of his armor marred with deep cuts, his right arm looked twisted, the metal all bend out of shape and she could swear she saw some glowing blue liquid oozing out of some of the cuts in his arm. She then looked to where Ratchet was, parts of his armor already quite dented, his saws out and spinning threateningly as he took a swing at Barricade before what she only assumed was Starscream swooped down on the medic, knocking him to the ground with a sickening thud.

"Find Sam, hurry Vic!" she heard Ironhide say before the seatbelt released her and she jumped out the cab of his topkick form, her hand not once leaving that sensor disruptor as she ran towards the cover of the trees, to at least make herself a little harder for the decepticons to see. Almost as soon as she moved from Ironhide she heard a blast behind her, glancing back quickly to see the dirt that had kicked up fall back to the ground and Ironhide finish transforming, his cannons had already flared to life as he aimed right at Starscream "Big mistake." she heard the large black mech growl before he fired at the larger decepticon.

She didn't waste time staring, she had to find Sam, she ran through the sparse tree cover towards where Bumblebee was, she thought that just maybe Sam would have taken shelter behind his guardian even if the yellow bot was damaged. She kept glancing back to the battle just in time to see Starscream tackle her guardian, her friend. She shook off the concern for now, it wasn't easy to do but she had to stay focused, her hair was already plastered to her face by the rain, the ground was wet and soft which was not good for footing, but she managed, vaulting over a downed log before she saw him, sure enough, Sam was huddled up behind Bumblebee, his left leg all bloody, but he was alright besides that. She slid to a halt in front of him, looking over him a bit concerned, though she couldn't help but chance a glance at Bumblebee as well, the young bot's battle mask was all torn up as was part of his chest armor, she sighed, letting her head lower for a moment before looking back to Sam and holding a hand out to him, motioning for him to come on.

"Damn glad you showed up but I can't leave 'Bee." Sam said as grabbed his arms and pulled him to his feet, throwing his arm on the side with his hurt leg over her shoulders, the poor boy was full of mud and just as soaked as she was because of the rain.

The redhead looked over to where the other bots were fighting, she saw that Ironhide was going full out against Starscream while Ratchet, despite his current damage, had Barricade to contend with, she then gave a heavy sigh ~There's no way he can outrun a jet, neither of them could really shake these decepticons long enough to get us out of here. Looks like his plan of running just went right down the drain.~ she thought for a moment before looking over to Sam.

"No, no way, I don't think we can just run, I sure can't with my leg this way, we have got to hide." Sam said, obviously having had the same thought on the situation that she had. Vic just nodded and took a quick glance around, Hiding behind Bumblebee was too obvious, if she had thought to check there, she was sure the decepticons would too if they got the chance. Her eyes then narrowed a bit as she saw a rather decent sized log and motioned to it before helping Sam towards it, she had no idea how badly his leg was hurt, but she knew they didn't have time to get there slowly, as cold hearted as it may have been to do, she practically dragged Sam towards the log before getting him behind it and making a shush motion to him as she peered up over the log after hearing a very loud and ground shaking slam from where the fight was taking place, what she saw then made her heart drop.

Ratchet was on the ground, she heard a groan come from the medic, he was moving sluggishly, his gun had been thrown to the side and she knew his saws wouldn't do him much good if he couldn't get in a position to swing them, Barricade was a bit beat up himself, but he was still standing. What surprised her most was the fact that he seemed to have stopped attacking Ratchet even though the medic was downed, instead he turned to where her and Sam were hiding. She quickly ducked back down before he was fully facing them. ~Shit, heat signature, Ironhide told me some Cybertronians could pick up body heat, go figure Barricade's probably one of them, just my fucking luck.~ she thought as she heard the footsteps of the mech growing closer, she was still able to hear the fight between Ironhide and Starscream not too far off. She then heard Sam next to her.

"He spotted us?" the boy whispered, Victoria just looked at him, sighing as the footsteps drew nearer, she tightened her grip on the handle of the disruptor before glancing to Sam, a smirk on her lips, the younger man looked at her puzzled before she stood, spinning around and pulling the defensive weapon from it's holster, aiming it right towards where Barricade's optics were and pulling the trigger, the gun shooting forth a bright white energy blast, she was actually amazed there wasn't much recoil from a weapon like this.

The shot hit and the black and white decepticon reeled back with a growl, stumbling a bit, the redhead saw Ratchet on his feet behind Barricade, the medic's stance seemed shaky but he was up. Seeing the weapon in Vic's hand and the decepticon's reaction he must have quickly figured it out considering the fact he brought his saw to bare and slashed right at the back of Barricade's knee joints, causing the black and white mech to fall to a kneel before the robotic medic simply kicked him over, forcing him to land face down on the ground. Ratchet then looked towards where Vic was standing and just gave a nod of approval before he turned his attention to the fight between Ironhide and Starscream, even as damaged as he was he still went to help Ironhide against Starscream.

"I hear them Vic, the others are on their way." She heard Sam say from her side before looking to him, she hadn't heard it before, but he was right, now that she was listening she could hear a few more engines at high speeds coming towards them, even through the rain as she crouched down next to Sam, patting his shoulder a bit with a nod ~It's about time boys. . .~ she thought giving a small sigh.

She glanced towards where Ratchet and Ironhide were trying to hold off Starscream, they weren't doing too well, they were holding up, but barley. Then she heard something she didn't expect, a scratchy, higher pitched voice which would put nails on a chalk board to shame "I'll get it even if I have to rip it out her throat!" she could only guess that was Starscream, a puzzled look came over her face as she brought her hand up to her neck ~Is he talking about. . .~ her thought was interrupted as the rest of the group finally made it to the fight, transforming while moving, causing them to more or less leap up a bit as they took on their robotic forms, weapons already being drawn as Sideswipe charged at the dorito chip looking decepticon, the silver bot's swords were out and he looked furious.

Sideswipe aimed his sword right for Starscream's midsection, the decepticon moved just enough to avoid being impaled though he still had a rough meeting with the blade just to be lashed at by what looked like energy whips held by a blue armored autobot the redhead hadn't seen before. The whips made contact, getting a growl from Starscream before he leapt up, beginning his transformation to his jet form "I'm patient." was all he said before the transformation completed and he went to fly off, skimming a top of a nearby tree as the sky lit up, scaring the hell out of Victoria as lightning struck the highest point the moment it was grounded, and that highest point just happened to be Starscream, who then kept flying, a bit of smoke coming from one of his wings. Scared of lightning or not, she couldn't help but give a small soundless laugh at the chances of that as the others made their way towards where she and Sam were hiding.

Ironhide and Ratchet looked rough, but the others were pretty much untouched seeing as the decepticon ran, or well, flew away, Sideswipe and the blue autobot behind them, Ratchet went right to Bumblebee, she had expected as much. Ironhide must have caught her amused look seeing as he soon spoke up.

"OK, what's so funny." the black, slightly roughed up mech asked her.

She just looked up with a small smirk a moment as she holstered the disruptor before signing to him "Starscream's been thunderstruck."

Ironhide didn't look like he got it, Sideswipe on the other hand started chuckling a bit behind her guardian which earned the shorter bot a funny look from Ironhide, Sam and the new blue mech who Victoria hadn't met yet. Sideswipe just shrugged, looking mostly at Ironhide "What? You're her guardian and you do get it? Thunderstruck, one of the songs by one of those old rock bands she listens to."

Sam seemed to get it after Sideswipe's small explaination "Bad joke Vic." he said shaking his head a bit with a small laugh as Ironhide just gave a small huff, OK, even Vic had to admit that wasn't one of her best jokes, but hey, she couldn't be spot on with her sarcasm all the time.

"Alright smartaft, if you're done crackin' jokes yet, are you hurt?" Ironhide ask her, she just shook her head in response before motioning to Sam.

'I'm fine, his leg's messed up though.' she signed as the blue autobot moved forward to see to Sam, Vic moved out the way so he had his space as he seemed to inspect the leg. The redhead's gaze turned to where Ratchet was tending to Bumblebee, she moved to try and get her soaking wet hair out of her face before she heard an unfamiliar voice behind her, looking back to see it was the blue mech.

"It's nothing serious, just a pulled muscle and twisted ankle, few cuts but they aren't deep, you'll just have to rest it." she heard him say as he stood, the redhead actually gave a small sigh of relief, good, Sam wouldn't need but a week at most to recover from that, him being unable to stand on his own must have just been due to how much it hurt.

"Thanks Jolt." she heard Sam say as he struggled to his feet, trying not to put too much weight on his leg, the redhead just rolled her eyes before jogging back to where he was to help him, he looked at the taller woman as she helped him take some weight off his hurt leg. "I want to check on 'Bee." he said, to which Vic just nodded before helping him make his way there, taking their time now since they didn't have to run, she glanced to where Barricade had been before, seeing trails in the dirt, it looked like he dragged himself away from the area while the others were dealing with Starscream, she mentally cursed at this realization, that meant he was still out there. She just sighed, pushing the thought from her mind for the time being as they made their way to Bumblebee.

She was worried about the yellow bot, he was just so sweet from what she had seen, it wasn't right that he ended up getting the worst of it, and Ratchet, as damaged as he was himself, was more concerned with Bumblebee's well being than his own, she had to respect that kind of dedication not only to his work, but to his friends. She was beginning to think these autobots held better morals than most humans she knew ~They care so much, even for those they barely know who need their help, those who aren't even the same species, but they still care and help. If only humanity as a whole could learn to be like that.~ she thought as they came to a stop near where Ratchet was working on repairing Bumblebee.

"How's he doing Ratchet?" she heard Sam at her side, they both looked up at the medic waiting for the answer.

"Moderate damage, a few split energon lines and armor damage, nothing too serious but he's in stasis lock due to energon loss," came the answer from Ratchet as he didn't once take his focus off of Bumblebee, welding back together pieces of armor, it seemed he was even taking from his own systems to repair the energon lines that had been damaged.

Victoria moved to help Sam to a nearby tree stump so he could sit, she knew him standing like that wasn't exactly classified as resting his leg, even if she was helping him keep the weight off it. Once he had sat down she turned her attention back to watching Ratchet repair Bumblebee. She couldn't help but find it interesting, sure she had torn apart motors and rebuilt them, but the cybertronians were a lot different than cars, it was much more complex, just about as complex as the human body itself. It was like a blend of mechanics and biology, they were very much alive, it was mind boggling, but she couldn't help but be curious, though she held her questions for right now, she didn't want to disturb Ratchet's work.

She heard heavy footsteps coming nearer before her gaze was finally pulled from watching the medic repairing Bumblebee, the others were making their way towards them, Ironhide at the lead. They stopped once they were near and Ironhide kneeled down to look at the redhead, who turned to face him fully.

"Vic, you heard what Starscream had said right?" he asked her, looking slightly puzzled by it himself, Victoria just nodded, her hand almost instinctively coming up to the scar down her throat as he continued "You have any idea what he was talkin' bout?"

The redhead sighed, lowering her hand and looking up to her guardian before signing 'I think I might, but I'm not sure.'

"Well, right now what you think might be all we got to go off of. Go head." he said as the other two behind him just looked at Vic, they were waiting for a possible explanation.

She shook her head a bit, this was unbelievable, the chances of it, none of it really made sense to her, but then again giant robots on earth wouldn't have made sense to her before recently. She finally began signing the explanation after her moment of hesitation. 'The only thing I could even think he may have been remotely referring to is what caused my muteness. The accident happened in Mission City, right after it had been deemed as safe for civilians to return to, me and a few friends decided it'd be the perfect place to have a street race, since not everyone had returned yet, less traffic. The metal that had gone into my throat was odd from what doctors said, they couldn't tell what alloy it was and, though it was small, it ended up in just the right spot where it wasn't a risk to my safety but they couldn't remove it without chancing worsening the damage, so it's still there. It's very small, at first I didn't think anything of it, but now, knowing what I know now, after what he said and considering they couldn't identify what kind of metal it was. . .' she paused in her signing giving a small sigh, looking back to where Ratchet was finishing up Bumblebee's repairs before looking back to Ironhide 'Do you think it's possible?'

Ironhide gave a sigh himself before looking over to the medic "Ratch, once you're done with Bumblebee, think you could do a quick scan on Vic for Allspark radiation?"

The medic looked up just as the redhead looked over to him, he looked almost surprised at the request "I could do that, yes." he said before looking over Vic for a moment, a look of near shock came across Ratchet's features, the redhead still couldn't get over how expressive their faces were, even after two weeks around them "I can't believe I missed it, it's a trance amount but, it is localized in her throat. It must be a very small piece, but it is there." he stated before going back to repairing Bumblebee, he looked like he was almost finished, but now it sounded like his was muttering something in their native language.

Victoria looked back to Ironhide who looked a bit surprised himself 'This doesn't make sense.' she signed 'If it was me they were after then why did Barricade ask where Ratchet was when he first attacked me at my home, why did he attack you at the beach, and why did they go after Sam, Bumblebee and Ratchet today?'

Ironhide just sighed, shaking his head, but it was Sideswipe who spoke up this time. "Maybe he didn't pick up on the Allspark piece in your neck the first time, if Ratchet hadn't even realized it until now, it's not surprising. He might have picked up on the faint radiation later."

'But that doesn't explain them attacking today.' she signed, it didn't make sense to her at first, then it clicked and she looked right at Ironhide 'They baited us.'

Her guardian nodded "I think, you might be right on that. This means we gotta be more careful. Starscream's a coward, but he ain't stupid. Good thing you have that sensor disruptor. Think it mighta saved your life today."

"Nice shooting, by the way." she heard Ratchet say from behind her, she glanced over her shoulder to him "I don't think he was expecting you to be armed, even if it was not damaging, it still seemed quite effective, more so since you aimed for the optics."

The redhead gave a small smile, signing thanks to him before moving to sit on the stump she had set Sam on, thankfully it was large enough for them to both sit comfortably. She sighed, lowering her gaze and shaking her head a bit as the rain continued to beat down, it wasn't as heavy as before and the lightning seemed to have pretty much stopped, a few flashes were seen from time to time but they were distant now, the thunder not loud enough to really scared her anymore even if she still wasn't comfortable hearing it. She brought her hand to the scar on her throat once more. ~So it's a small piece of the Allspark that's stuck in my throat, it must have been on the road after that fight they told me bout and I just happened to be unlucky enough for it, of all things, to get kicked up by the wheel of that other bike. I've ended up not only in the middle of this conflict, but from what they told me before, this means I can't just walk away. Not like I'd wanna, after all, I stopped running a long time ago.~

* * *

It had been only four hours, Ratchet had managed to repair Bumblebee before seeing to Ironhide's damage, it had taken both her and Ironhide's persistence to get the medic to see to his own damage before worrying about minor scratches on Jolt and Sideswipe. Ratchet had the nerve to call her stubborn? He wasn't too much better on that aspect himself when it came to tending to his own well being. Once everyone was prepared she had helped Sam into the now repaired and awake Bumblebee's alt form before she rode in her guardian's alt form to their little base. From her understanding Optimus had already been informed of the new information and, sure enough, was standing there waiting for them when they arrived.

Once they came to a stop she got out and moved away so Ironhide could transform before she moved to help Sam get out and allow Bumblebee to make the change himself. The yellow mech then bent down to offer to pick up Sam, Vic helped him have a seat before his guardian lifted him and started following the others who had already began walking to join Optimus, only Ironhide lingered behind with her.

"Cmon, Optimus needs to talk to you." Ironhide told her upon seeing her hesitation.

'Why do I have the feeling he's going to want me to stay here because of this?' she signed, it was her largest concern right now, she loved her freedom, without it life wasn't worth living in her opinion, she'd rather die free then live caged, even if they did only want to protect her.

"He might, and I don't blame him. You wouldn't listen if he told you to stay here, would you?"

'You already know the answer to that.'

"Thought so."

Vic just sighed at that, beginning to walk towards where the others were, she heard Ironhide move to follow before she felt him scoop her up and start to carry her. She couldn't help but look at him puzzled, she kind of expected such an action from Sideswipe, maybe even Bumblebee at times, but Ironhide? Then again, he probably just didn't feel like waiting seeing as her smaller size meant she walked slower than he did. He didn't seem to notice her slightly confused expression however, and just made his way towards where Optimus was with the others.

She was waiting for Ironhide to set her down once they got there, but instead he actually moved to let her get onto his shoulder, she just kind of quirked an eyebrow at the action before shrugging and climbing up, perching herself on one of the more suitable spots to sit on his shoulder and holding onto a part of his armor to keep herself stable, well, at least she didn't feel totally short sitting up here, and she was also very glad that she wasn't scared of heights at this point, seeing as Ironhide was about twenty-two feet tall. Once she was settled she looked over to where Optimus was conversing with Ratchet, they were talking in their native language, and while she knew it was likely only more natural to them, she hated not being able to understand what the hell they were talking about.

She narrowed her eyes a bit and pulled something out of her pocket, it was just a quarter, just a little of the change she happened to have on her, and flung it right at Optimus to get his attention, a small chink sound was heard as it made contact, causing the tallest autobot to look in the direction the projectile came from.

'English please. Not everyone here can understand your language.' she signed to him before steadying herself on Ironhide's shoulder once more.

"Calm down Vic." she heard Ironhide say to her, this just got a sigh from the redhead, OK, so maybe that was just a little rude, but she didn't like being left out of a conversation which may well be regarding her, and considering what had just happened, it likely was. After all, it was just a coin, not like it was something heavy.

Optimus didn't seem upset at her means of getting his attention, instead he just looked to her and gave a slight nod "Ratchet was just telling me the full details what happened, and about the small Allspark fragment in your throat. Why didn't you mention that the accident had occurred in Mission city when you knew that the fight that the Allspark was destroyed during occurred there?"

'I didn't think the metal in my throat was from that, the chances of it were so small, I didn't think it was even a factor.' she signed the best she could while keeping her balance, Ironhide's shoulder wasn't exactly seat friendly, though he did seem to be very careful in his movements to avoid making her lose her balance.

"I will not argue that the chance of something like this happening was quite slim. The question now however, is what to do now that it has been brought to our attention." Optimus stated as he looked as if in thought a moment. Soon a voice was heard from Bumblebee's hand.

"Wait, if that's a piece of the Allspark in her throat, they'll kill her to get it. I mean, they had something crawl up into my brain to get the information from the Allspark before the Fallen showed up, but if that shard can't be removed then they'll just tear her throat out." Sam said, looking to where she was sitting.

"Not if I got anything to say bout it." she heard Ironhide flat out state, she looked to him, giving a small half smile before Sam continued.

"Not only that but, if that is a shard in her, then why isn't it effecting her, just touching one made me start flipping out and drawing symbols all over the walls and stuff, not to mention it bringing my kitchen to life and starting a fire in my room. She seems perfectly alright. Are you sure it's a shard?" Sam finished his previous statement before it was Ratchet's turn to speak up.

"The piece in her throat isn't even the size of the other shards Sam, I would say it is no larger than a human thumb nail, possibly even slightly smaller. The amount of Allspark radiation from it is minimal, barley even enough for my sensors to pick up without scanning specifically for it. It is not enough to effect her." the madic informed Sam before looking to Victoria "Basically, you do not have to worry of it causing any adverse effects to your health if my readings are correct."

'Until a decepticon rips my throat out to get it.' she signed in response, this served to get a small bit of a glare from the medic 'Sorry, it's just a pretty messed up situation.'

"That ain't gonna happen Vic, they'll have to go through me first." Ironhide said after seeing her response. She was still surprised just how protective he had gotten of her, sure, he was a bit protective before, but as time went on he seemed to be growing even more protective, though, if she had to be honest with herself, and as funny as it may seem, she was a bit protective of the weapons specialist herself. Sure, he was huge, made of metal and had guns which could easily level a house attached to his arms, but he was a good friend at this point, despite how able to defend himself he was, the fight earlier, seeing him taking on Starscream, she had wanted to help him, but she knew she couldn't and knew that if she didn't help Sam, the very reason why Ironhide had come to that fight and put himself in danger, that if Sam had been more severely injured, then her guardian would have ended up damaged for nothing.

"It may be best for your to remain here Victoria, where we will all be near enough to help if they attempt to come after you." Optimus's voice snapped her from her thoughts, she shot him a rather displeased look before he added to his previous statement "The choice is your's of course, I will not hold you here against your will."

Her expression softened a bit at the leader's second statement, she gave a small sigh before signing her reply 'I'm sorry, but I have to have my freedom, I can't stay here and hide. I appreciate the offer but you have to understand that I hate feeling trapped. If I'm stuck here it'll drive me crazy.'

Optimus gave a small nod, he didn't seem pleased at the choice, but she figured he could at least understand why she felt that way.

"Sir, if she's worried about feeling trapped, just because she's staying here doesn't mean she can't still go out and carry on with her normal life." Sideswipe spoke up before looking towards the redhead perched on Ironhide's shoulder "We can protect you better here, but we can't force you to stay here all the time. As long as someone's with you when you go out, it shouldn't be a problem."

"Are you sayin' I can't protect her Sideswipe?" Ironhide said, he sounded a bit offended at the statement. Sideswipe shook his head.

"It's not that, it's just if they really want to come after her then they'll have no problem with attacking in numbers, or in the open for that matter, have to remember, they aren't as careful around human life as we are." Sideswipe attempted to clarify his statement, this just got a huff from Ironhide, who shifted just slightly, causing Vic to tighten her grasp to keep balanced, Ironhide must have felt her do so since his hand came up as if ready to catch her before lowering once more as he saw that she had regained her balance.

"He is right Ironhide, you are her guardian, that will not change, and you have done well keeping her safe, but with this new knowledge, she is at much greater risk." Optimus said as he looked to Ironhide before moving his gaze to Sideswipe. "However, it is still her decision to make."

Vic just sighed, they were right, she knew they were right, but she didn't like it a bit. She didn't like the idea that she even needed to be protected, she enjoyed Ironhide's company, even if they did argue a lot, and the others were great to hang around as well, but to be protected, even by friends, she just couldn't fully accept it. ~They care Vic, that's what friends do, that's why Sara gets so upset with you when you do something stupid. Can I really accept this much help though? They must have more to deal with then this situation. I hate not knowing what to do, normally brushing people off is so easy, but they aren't even trying to force me to stay, just asking me to. Dammit, why did I have to end up in this situation.~ she thought to herself, brows squeezed in slight frustration at the situation, her gaze had lowered a bit before Ironhide's voice broke her from her thoughts.

"You alright Vic?" he asked, looking over to where she was on his shoulder.

She just nodded 'I need time to think, it's just, everything at once, I need time to sort it all out.' she signed in response. Ironhide nodded to her before she looked over to Optimus 'I'll stay for tonight, you'll have my answer tomorrow.'

"Very well, take the time you need, I know this cannot be easy for you." the leader replied.

'No, really, you think? My whole life has just been flipped on it's ass. . .' she paused mid-sign, just looking down with a sigh and shaking her head, she had no reason to be mad at him, or at any of them, they were just trying to help after all, it was her who was being difficult and near spitting it right back in their faces. 'Sorry, it's just, my anger at the situation is getting the best of me.'

"Your frustration is understandable, I can't blame you for that, but remember, we are just trying to help." even though she had just almost gone off on him, Optimus's voice was still calm and kind, he truly was a leader, not just by title, he certainly had the personality for the job as well.

The redhead gave a small nod 'I know, I shouldn't be getting mad at you. I just need to think this through.'

Optimus nodded at her response "That may be a good idea." he said to her before looking to Ironhide "Go on and get her inside, with her clothes as wet as they are it'd be better if she was inside where she could warm up."

"Yes sir." Ironhide responded before looking to the redhead perched on his shoulder. "Hold on, don't want you to fall." as soon as he said that she did so, getting a good grasp on his shoulder to be sure she was stable and secure before she nodded to him. He turned and began towards the warehouse she had stayed in the first day she had met them. She shifted her weight a bit has he walked to maintain balance, it wasn't too hard to stay on his shoulder, so long as she had a good grip she was fine, her feet braced against the fender part of his armor for a bit of extra stability. She still had no idea why he decided to carry her, but it was faster and she didn't feel like she had to be ready to dodge massive feet this way, even though she knew the autobots were careful to avoid stepping on their human allies, the thought was still always in the back of her mind. They soon made there way inside the warehouse and Ironhide brought his hand up to where she was so he could set her back down. Once she was safely on the ground she turned to look to him, feeling suddenly short once more. "I'll leave so you have time to figure out what you're gonna do." he said as he turned to depart.

The redhead let out a whistle to get his attention before he left, he paused and looked over to her before she signed 'Would you stay?'

"I thought you said you wanted time to think."

'I do, but the advice of a friend doesn't hurt.'

Ironhide gave a slight humph "You're not normally one to ask someone else's advice."

'Normally no, but this isn't exactly a normal situation for me. I hate to admit it, I really do, but he had a point.'

"Yea, he did, but you'd go nuts if you were cooped up here, you even said yourself that freedom was all you had left."

'I know, I put on a tough act, I pretend I don't give a damn about my own safety, but this isn't just worrying about an accident, if I get hurt because of my own recklessness, I can handle that, but being hunted is a different story.'

"So what are you gonna do?"

'Honestly, I don't know, I thought I did, but I'm not so sure anymore.'

"I can protect you Vic, you know that."

'I know you can against one attacker, but I'm worried. What if they team up on you? I don't want to see you damaged like Bumblebee was today, I really don't want to see you like that, especially not on account of me.'

The black mech just gave a heavy sigh, turning to close the door before having a seat on the ground and looking right at her "I'm your guardian Vic, I know the risk."

'Now why does that sound familiar?' she signed giving a slight smirk.

Ironhide shook his head with just the slightest chuckle "Stubborn."

'Like you have room to talk?'

"Why are you so worried about me gettin' hurt?"

'Because you're my guardian, yes, but you're also my friend and I'll be damned if I'm going to ask a friend to put themselves in danger for me.'

"You're gettin' a bit protective ain't you?"

'Maybe I am, I don't see anything wrong with that. I know you're a damned good fighter, I've seen that, but who knows how many it'll be next time they attack.'

"Are you really that worried?"

'I might be overreacting, but yes. You have to remember, this is all new to me still, I am a bit scared, as much as I hate to admit it, even to myself, but I don't want my friends hurt in this either.'

"So you wanna stay here?"

'I don't want to, I don't like it, but it may be best to, long as I don't have to stay here all the time. We still don't even know what that pretender you mentioned looks like.'

"I think you're finally learnin'."

'What's that suppose to mean?'

"You really gotta ask?" Ironhide said with what the redhead would have sworn was a bit of a smirk. Vic just crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow at him, to which he shrugged before chuckling a small bit. She knew well what he meant, and even though it wasn't said, the choice was made, she was staying, but she was not about to stay here 24/7, she had to get out sometimes no matter if the rest of them liked it or not. After all, she would still have her freedom, but she wasn't beyond compromise, even if it did mean she just might have to be a bit sneaky sometimes.

* * *

She had finally dried off, already gotten a few texts from Sara about hanging out today, she just made up an excuse for the night, she loved spending time with her little hyper friend, but now was not the time for that, plus she really didn't want Sara to get caught up in all this, she cared about her friend, and if being around her put Sara in a situation where she may possibly be at risk, well, Victoria just couldn't let that happen. Sam, Bumblebee and the twins had stopped by now, the latter much to Ironhide's annoyance. Sam had brought food and refused to let her pay him back, which just annoyed the redhead a bit but she figured she'd get the chance to pay him back sooner or later. The meal was far from peaceful however, mostly due to Mupflap and Skidz not shutting up, but at least they weren't arguing this time, well, yet at least.

"Why ya gotta be like dat man? Do ya eva loosen up?" The red twin, who Vic was pretty certain was Mudflap at this point, said to a rather annoyed looking Ironhide.

"No." came the short answer from the weapons specialist.

"Cmon Mupflap, ya know he ain't got no sensea humor, leave 'im 'lone." Skidz said before earning himself a glare from Ironhide.

Victoria just face palmed, shaking her head a bit as she witnessed them harassing her poor guardian. She was rather thankful when Sam spoke up.

"Guys, leave him alone, it's been a rough day for all of us." Sam said, getting both the twins to look right at him, Ironhide almost looked thankful he had spoken up, likely because it mean he wouldn't have to go off on one of them after the day him, Vic, Sam and Bumblebee had.

"Jus' sayin' man." Skidz said a bit defensively before walking towards where Sam and the redhead were sitting on the sofa, his twin following right behind him. "So how ya doin' man, heard yo got ya ass thrown."

"I'm alright, leg's a bit messed up but nothing too bad, just a little sore now." Sam answered as Bumblebee, who had been sitting on the floor on the opposite end of the sofa, nodded.

"An' what bout you, hear ya got ya ass kicked by dose bitches." Mupflap asked directed at the yellow bot.

Bumblebee gave something that sounded like a sigh and just gave a small nod.

Victoria wanted to throw something at the twins already, and them looking at her next certainly didn't help that urge.

"So ya might be stayin' 'ere 'gain from what I heard, Jus' wha' happened out dere?" Skidz asked, looking right at her.

'Long story.' was all she signed before going back to trying to eat.

"Ah well, don' worry, me an' Skidz'll help keep 'em from getting' near ya." Mudflap boldly stated, crossing his arms at the statement as his twin nodded behind him.

"Yea man, jus' like we do wit Sam, 'Kaela an' that Leo frienda dere's." Skidz said putting a hand on his brother's shoulder, which was promptly shrugged off.

"Get yo hand off me man." Mudflap said pulling away from his brother.

Vic tilted her head a bit, looking to Sam before pulling out her notepad ~'Leo?'~ she wrote holding it out to Sam.

"Oh, yea, collage friend, you haven't met him yet." Sam answered her, the redhead just nodded before finishing up her food. Mudflap and Skidz had started bickering amongst themselves yet again and, sure enough, started duking it out right there before Ironhide stood, grabbed both of them, opened up the larger door with his foot and tossed them outside before closing the door yet again and turning to see Sam, Bumblebee and Vic just looking at him.

"What?" Ironhide asked with a shrug "They were startin' to annoy me."

'Only starting? Looked like they had been for a while.' Vic signed with a soundless chuckle as they heard something, likely one of the twins, slam against the outside wall.

Ironhide glanced back at the sound of impact before sighing and shaking his head "OK, so maybe I just got annoyed enough to finally toss 'em out."

"Good thing you did by the sounds of it." Sam said, Bumblebee nodding in agreement. Sam then looked over to Vic "So, have you decided if you're going to stay? I mean, you would be safer here, and with a pretender around." Sam gave a bit of a shutter at that mention "Umm, let's just say they aren't fun to run into, or be kissed by." Victoria just raised an eyebrow at the last bit of Sam's statement, something told her she didn't even want to know the rest of the story behind that one.

She had gone to write the response when Ironhide spoke up "She's stayin', she's just not gonna stay here all the time." he said as he walked over nearer to where they were sitting and having a seat back on the floor himself.

"Oh, so she going to at least stay here most the time then? Well, that's good at least. At least I think it is." Sam said before going back to his own food.

Sam and Bumblebee stayed for a while before they finally decided to leave, Sam mentioning he had an exam to study for before he went to bed, she had helped him into Bumblebee's alt form before returning to the makeshift living area and more or less ploping herself on the sofa. Ironhide had stayed with her, she was still quite surprised he could stand being around her so much, she had half started to wonder if he enjoyed their little debates sometimes, she knew she did, not many could take her sarcasm as well as he seemed to, and he even dished out a bit of his own sometimes. She found it entertaining to say the least.

Soon he moved to have a seat not too far behind where the sofa was "I still can't believe you were that scared of a thunderstorm." she heard him say, causing her to sit up on the sofa and look right at him before kneeling on the seat so she could face him.

'After everything that happened today, you bring that up?'

"Well if you hadn't been acting like a scared sparkling. . ." he was cut off mid sentence when he had to bring up a hand to catch a throw pillow that had been aimed right at his face.

'A scared what now?' she signed, looking a bit smug at this point.

"A sparkling, a child Vic." he said before looking at the pillow he had caught, it really was so tiny in his hand, like a small cell phone would be in a human's hand, he then looked at her "A pillow? Really?"

The redhead just shrugged before suddenly having to duck down to dodge the pillow as he tossed it right back at her. ~OK, that's it, it's on now.~ she thought before grabbing another pillow and slinging it right at him as well, she didn't care where she was aiming but she was determined to hit him with one of them at least.

'Don't call me a child.' she signed as he caught the second pillow as well, though she couldn't help the small smile on her face. ~I have managed to start a pillow fight with an autobot, go figure.~ she thought before having to duck again, almost getting smacked with the pillow as he tossed it back at her, he was obviously throwing them back softly, otherwise they would have been moving a lot faster than they were.

"I didn't call you a child, I said you were actin' like one."

She sat up again before looking at him and shaking her head a bit. 'Close enough.' she signed before grabbing the last throw pillow on the sofa and, well, making it live up to it's name.

Sure enough, Ironhide caught that one as well "Will you stop throwin' these things?"

'Well you keep throwing them ba. . .' she was caught mid-sign as she got a pillow to the face, it catching her off guard just enough to make her tumble off the sofa and onto the floor not too far below. She heard Ironhide stand pretty quickly and soon saw him looking down at where she had fallen.

"I didn't hurt you did I?" he asked, sounding a bit worried.

'Physically no, my pride's a different story.' she signed before moving to stand, she could hear Ironhide laughing a small bit now and she turned to look right up at him. 'Oh, sure, you knock me over and now you're laughing at me, really, thanks.' she signed with a silent laugh of her own.

He then leaned down so his face was near even with hers "You started it, I just finished it." he simply stated before smirking at her.

'It's not finished yet.' she signed before moving to do something quite silly, she more or less leapt at him before trying to do a very off and odd version of a headlock, seeing as he was so much larger than she was, she knew it wouldn't do a damned thing to her guardian, but she could try at least. Even though she could barely even get her arm around most of his neck to begin with. Ironhide just laughed at her attempt.

"You done yet?" he asked in a rather amused tone.

She knew he wouldn't see her shaking her head so she just tried to tighten her awkward grasp around his neck to give her answer, this just served to make him chuckle a bit more before he moved to right out stand, lifting her up with him, though his hand did come up as well in case she slipped. Once he had stood fully she finally got her footing on his shoulder before letting go and moving to sit on his shoulder as she had earlier.

He then looked over to her, he even looked a bit amused at her antics "Was there a point to that?" he asked, raising an optic ridge.

'Not really.'

"Well, then I got one more question."

'What's that?'

"You thought bout how you're gonna get back down?" he asked her with a smirk.

She just looked at him contemplatively a moment before signing 'That's just wrong.'

"Well you got yourself into the situation."

At that the redhead just smirked, giving the side of his head a playful shove, somewhat surprised he actually moved his head with it, chuckling a little in the process before looking at her once more as she signed 'OK, very funny, now put me back down.'

He just sighed, though he was still smirking a bit before bringing his hand up for her to climb onto and lowering her back onto the ground. She stood and turned back to look at him once more before just shaking her head, a highly amused look on her face. So perhaps today had been rather rough on them, but that little bit of goofing off, caused by one random pillow being thrown, seemed to have served it's purpose, it lightened both their moods, even if just a little.

* * *

She had slept like a log that night, she needed it after the previous day's events, she hadn't, however, expected to be woken up by someone shaking her shoulder, she rolled over feeling someone shaking her and before she knew it, threw a punch right at the person's face as she was still half asleep when she did so and her mind hadn't registered who it might have been yet, due to the fact her glasses were on the nightstand and thus she could not see them, but the voice that came from the one she punched snapped her into full awareness rather quickly.

"Victoria, relax, it's a good thing our holoforms don't sustain injury, but that still was quite unpleasant." she heard Ratchet's voice as she sat up, got her glasses on and looked at him apologetically.

'Sorry, I do that sometimes.' she signed as he brought his hand away from his nose.

"It's alright, I would just rather not repeat the occurrence." he said straightening out the glasses his holoform wore before looking towards her. "I came to ask what you decided to do. Do you plan on staying here or returning to your home despite the risk to your safety it would pose."

She sighed, moving to stand and face him 'I decided to stay, but under one condition, that I have the freedom to go out when I want to, with my guardian there to keep me safe.' she signed before doing her morning habit of cracking her neck.

Ratchet gave a small nod "Good, I am relieved to hear you've the sense to at least consider your own safety."

'Why the hell does that surprise everyone? I may be mute but I am not stupid.'

"I did not say you were, it is simply that you have proven to be reckless."

'I am well aware of my recklessness, I know the risks of what I do, I know what can happen, and I'm careful to avoid the worst.'

"You are saying this to the one who first met you due to an accident caused by you running a red light."

'I never said I was perfect, I make mistakes, not being aware of my surroundings at that moment just happened to be one of them.'

"A mistake that could have gotten you killed had it been another who lacked the ability to stop as quickly as I was able to."

'And a mistake that, had it not happened, I would never have met any of you.'

"If you had not then you would not be in the danger you are in now."

'Might not have, or they might have chanced onto me later, we don't know what would have happened, just what did.'

"It would have been much less likely however."

'Like any of this was likely to happen.'

"Why are you so argumentative?"

'Just how I am. I'm rude, blunt, stubborn, hotheaded and sarcastic, I won't deny it, and I wouldn't want to be any other way.'

Ratchet just sighed, shaking his head at her "At least you're honest." he said before crossing his arms, looking at her "Well, I suppose I should let Optimus know your decision. Also, I would like to inspect your throat, see if perhaps there is a way to remove the Allspark fragment without causing more damage, so they will be less likely to try and kill you to get to it."

Victoria shook her head at mention of removing it 'I'm not getting cut open again, besides, the doctors tried to find a way to remove it, but it was too risky.'

"Earth's doctors also lack the technology we have."

'But it would still require me getting cut open.'

"That is the only means of removing a foreign item from the human body, but that is only if it can be removed. At least let me inspect it to see if it is even possible, and to be certain there is not any risk to your health that my scanners did not pick up yesterday."

'Fine, but come anywhere near me with any sort of scalpel or anything else like that and I don't care how big you are, I'll deck you.'

"Let's just be going, would you make your way to the medical building while I go to inform Optimus that you will be staying?"

Victoria just nodded as Ratchet's holoform faded. She ran her fingers through her hair to tame the mess a bit before heading out of the room, making her way to the medical building as the medic had asked her. Once inside she glanced around a bit, everything was so huge, what looked like a giant mental bed was at one side, numerous items which resembled a mixture of tools and medical equipment were around the room, she just sighed, moving to lean against one of the walls as she waited.

~I still can't believe this, the Allspark, the thing that the whole war they've been fighting started over, and I end up with a damn piece of the thing in my throat, not only did it take my voice from me, but now I'm in danger yet again because of it. As if me almost drowning in my own blood from it going into my throat in the first place wasn't fucking bad enough. Lady luck must hate me. Then again, at least I'm not facing this alone. . .~

The door to the medical room opened, drawing her from her thoughts as Ratchet walked in, she moved away from the wall so she'd be easier for him to spot. Sure enough he noticed her quickly and leaned down, offering his hand for her to climb up on "There you are." he said as she just sighed and climbed onto his hand before he lifted her up and moved to let her get onto the large metal table she had noticed upon entering the room.

Once she was standing on the table she looked at the medic 'Alright, so what needs to be done.' she signed before planting her hands on her hips.

"Just need to run a detailed scan, it should not take long." he said as he move a finger under her chin to get her to lift her head, likely so it was simpler to take the scan without interference, she did so, if anything to avoid prolonging the inspection. Ratchet leaned down a bit to begin looking at her throat.

"I informed Optimus that you decided to stay, he understood your condition and agreed to it, you can get some of your belongings as soon as you are ready to do so." he said while looking over her throat, making a bit of a pensive hum before he stood once more and looked to her.

'Alright, I will likely go soon then. So, what's the deal with the Allspark piece?' she signed, looking up to him and crossing her arms over her chest as she waited for his response.

"It would be very difficult to remove, due to how long it has been there, the tissue in your throat has healed around it. While I could have removed the fragment had it been recent, at this point attempting removal would be very dangerous. Effects from the fragment itself are minimal, it seems it is currently dormant and should not cause you any issues." he explained.

The redhead just sighed hearing that, she had figured it wouldn't be able to be removed, but he had wanted to check, though at least at this point she didn't seem to have to worry about a scalpel coming near her throat. She looked up to him after a moment before signing 'Currently dormant? What if it doesn't stay dormant?'

"I honestly do not know, though it is a concern, it is an unavoidable one. I can only hope it remains dormant, for your sake if nothing else."

'Well this is just great, not only do I have to worry about a decepticon ripping my throat out, but also about the Allspark fragment deciding to wake up and doing who knows what to me. I swear, things just keep getting better.' she signed with a bit of annoyance before lowering her gaze until Ratchet's voice regained her attention.

"If you start feeling ill or anything of that sort, be sure you let me know. Don't be stubborn about it like you tend to be in regards to most thing."

'I'm always stubborn, but like I said before, I'm not stupid. I'll let you know if anything feels off.' she signed before giving a small sigh. 'I should go and get my things from home, need a clean change of clothes.'

Ratchet nodded and brought his hand up for her to get onto so he could place her back on the ground "I could bring you there if you like." he offered once she was back on the ground.

She looked up to him a moment, thinking about the offer before signing to him 'I need to get my bike as well, while you were able to carry it for the short trip after the accident, bringing it here may be a bit too far for you, especially with the uneven road leading here, it may not be secured enough. No offense Ratchet.'

"You have all of us here who could help you get anyplace you may need to go, and you are concerned about bringing your motorcycle?" he asked, raising an optic ridge at her.

'I like my bike, after all, just because you can all change into vehicles doesn't mean I wouldn't rather drive the bike I rebuilt from time to time.'

"If it is what you rather, so long as someone goes with you when you leave the grounds."

'I can agree to that.' she signed before giving a slight smile and turning to leave, waving over her shoulder to Ratchet as she headed outside to track down her guardian.

* * *

**_Author's notes:_**

_First, thank you to those who have left reviews, honestly, knowing at least a few enjoy the story makes me want to write it even more._

_Now then, I know the other two chapters were a bit of a slow beginning, introduction and interaction focused without too much action, though there was some. This chapter, however, should show that this fanfiction is meant to have action in it, though I am spreading it out a little, after all, things happen between battles as well. And yes, Victoria is VERY afraid of thunderstorms, hey, she has to have her vices as well, she is only human after all, she also makes bad jokes from time to time as you see in this chapter._

_Now, as for the interaction between her and Ironhide, I'll let you all make what you will of it, not saying nothing, not hinting nothing, you'll see, that's all I'm gonna say._

_Anyways, before my notes turn into a blog like I have been known to do in the past, I'll just shut up. Thanks for reading ya'll and I hope you've enjoyed the story so far._

_Oh, and by the way, next chapter you get to meet the pretender. . ._


	4. Shut up and drive

** WARNING!: This chapter contains gore and character death (An OC), do not proceed if such things bother you.**

** I will not be held responsible if your lunch makes a second appearance! **

* * *

Victoria had managed to convince Ironhide to make a quick stop at Sara's house, the debate didn't take long, and like she had told her guardian, Sara had been her only friend since she moved to California, if she was going to be anyplace besides her home, she had to let her blond friend know so she wouldn't freak out when she went to check on her, like Sara had been known to often do. As they came to a stop in Sara's driveway, Vic went to get out, but the seatbelt didn't release when she hit the button, she figure Ironhide must have stopped it from unclasping. She looked at the symbol on his steering wheel a bit puzzled.

"Vic, got a bad feelin'." she heard Ironhide say.

'Ironhide, it won't take but a moment, it's Sara after all, the worst I have to worry about is her lecturing me about not taking care of my hair.' she signed, raising an eyebrow for a moment.

"Just hurry alright? I might just be bein' paranoid but somethin' don't feel right." he stated before releasing the seatbelt so she could get out. She gave a small nod before exiting her guardian's alt form and jogging up to Sara's front door.

She hadn't gotten the chance to call ahead of time, mostly due to the fact that her phone had died and she didn't have the charger with her since they hadn't stopped by her house first, but she knew Sara was likely home, and if she wasn't the redhead knew she'd be at Jason's house, the girl was never hard to track down. She came up to the door and gave a heavy knock before digging in her pocket for her notepad which she knew she'd need, Sara had tried to learn sign language when Vic had lost her voice, but she never quite got the hang of it, so Vic was use to writing for her.

Within a few moments the door opened, "Hey Victoria." Sara greeted her with a small wave, Victoira looked over Sara a moment, her friend wasn't smiling or energetic as she normally was, the redhead tilted her head slightly, hoping her friend hadn't fallen ill, as that was about the only time Sara wasn't her normal, cheery self.

~'OK, you didn't fuss at me or run up and hug me, are you feeling alright? You're not getting sick are you?'~ she wrote in her notepad before holding it out for Sara to read.

"I've been a little sick, but nothing too serious." she said giving a small smile before stepping to the side and inviting Vic inside, as Vic walked in she saw Sara glance towards where Ironhide was parked for a small moment before closing the door and looking back at the redhead. "So, is everything alright?" she asked, giving a small smile.

Victoria gave a small nod before writing once more ~'Yea, letting you know I'm going to be out of town for a little while, have a bit of business to take care of. Didn't want you to stop by my house and freak because I wasn't home.'~ she then held the notepad out for Sara.

"Oh, where are you going?"

~'Just out of town, no need to worry about me, you know I can take care of myself'~

"I know but still, what if I need to find you?"

~'You know my cell number, you can always text me, like always.'~

"Come on Victoria, let me know where you're going."

Vic just raised and eyebrow at the blond before signing out of habit 'Pushy.'

"What do you mean pushy? I'm just wondering where you'll be."

Vic then paused at that 'I need to go.' she signed before starting towards the door, but Sara stepped in front of her.

"Why are you in such a hurry, I thought you came to see me."

'I did, but I need to get ready for my trip.' she signed once more, curious of the response.

"What trip Victoria? Where are you going to anyways?"

Victoria just paused, Sara would not have understood that statement in sign. the redhead took a step back ~Shit, Ironhide was right, gotta learn to trust him on this kinda crap. Sara doesn't really understand sign language, but this does look and sound like Sara. Oh fuck, I hope this doesn't mean. . .~ she didn't even want to finish that thought. She looked to the blond in front of her for a moment, if she was right in her suspicions, then she wasn't walking out of that front door so easily, she couldn't call for Ironhide and she didn't even want to think where her little, lively, blond friend really was. 'Sara, let me leave, I'm not asking.' she signed, figuring it may be best to keep whatever this was thinking that it still had her fooled.

The blond shook her head "Not until you tell me where you're going."

'It's not your concern.'

"I'm your friend aren't I Victoria? Of course it's my concern."

Victoria just shook her head, backing up a bit more, moving towards where the sliding glass back door was in her friend's house, the blond moved to follow her. ~This isn't Sara.~ she thought before her eyes narrowed at the blond, she dropped her notepad and went right for the disruptor which was still at her thigh and aimed it at the blond, hesitating to pull the trigger.

Hesitation was her biggest mistake, the blond crouched down quickly before leaping at the redhead, she tried to dodge but only managed to get partially out of the way, getting hit just enough to get sent tumbling over the back of the sofa, landing behind it, landing in something wet, cold and sticky, she rolled from where she had landed before looking to see just what she had landed on.

She saw the last thing she ever wanted to see. Torn flesh, organs spilling out onto the floor, a mess of blond, blood caked hair over a still face, blue, lifeless eyes staring right at her, blood staining the milky white skin, delicate green dress turned black from the fluid, a red pool spread out from what was once a living being, saturating the floor. The redhead felt her stomach churn, she lifted her hands to see blood covering them from when she had landed, from her friend's cold, split open corpse, she was near covered in the blood of one she would have once called her sister without a second thought. Then she felt a second sensation overcome her, her hands started shaking, her heart started pounding, she felt a rush come over her, a feeling she only felt when going 150 miles an hour on the open road, she felt pure adrenaline.

"You. . .bitch. . . ." she forced the whisper, not even feeling the pain that shot through her throat for it, as her gaze shot up to the imposter, the pretender, seeing the skin it stole from Sara cracking and folding back, she wasn't about to wait for it to finish.

She raised the sensor disruptor and fired, the creature ducked, but she had already fired a second shot, a second that connected, sending the pretender stumbling back from having it's optics and hearing impaired by the weapon, the redhead stood, aiming once more and sending another shot, she didn't know if the effects stacked but she was beyond pissed, the blood of her oldest friend was currently on her hands, on the floor, one of the most caring people she knew, the closest thing to a sister she had ever had, was cold and lifeless because of this decepticon, she wasn't about to stop. They were hunting her, she could handle that, but this thing had stolen Sara's life.

~How dare they~

She fired again before charging at the blinded attacker full speed, slamming her shoulder into it's side and sending it stumbling into the sliding glass door due to it's blind state, shattering the glass and sending it stumbling to the ground, the impact caused a bit of a gash in her shoulder, but adrenaline was still flowing too much for her to feel it.

"Vic!" she heard Ironhide's voice from behind her, the commotion must had caught his attention, but in her rage she hadn't even noticed his presence before he had spoken up, she glanced back a moment to see his holoform rushing towards her, she turned away before he got to her and began to walk towards the still stumbling pretender, aiming the disruptor at it once more and firing, giving it a fresh dose of blindness and deafness before she felt arms wrap around her and start pulling her back from the decepticon she was determine to make sure never saw the light of another day. She thrashed in his grip, trying to pull away, she wanted to go after that thing, to rip it apart, she wanted it dead just as her friend was because of it, she wanted to scream, to cry, she wanted revenge.

She didn't even hear the engine, but soon Ironhide's alt form was in the back yard and beginning to transform as the holoform faded after dragging her back a decent distance. She began to run right back at the pretender, but before she got anywhere's near it Ironhide had already finished transforming and had his cannon aimed at the thing "You picked the wrong one to mess with scrap pile." he said before discharging the weapon with the pretender almost point blank, she could see pieces of the decepticon fly from the charge, but she was still far enough away to be well out of the blast radius. The redhead paused for just a moment as he turned to look at her, his weapon powering down.

"How badly are you injured?" he asked, but she didn't reply, her hands were still shaking, her head still pounding, the adrenaline would take time to get out of her system, but that was the farthest thing from her thoughts right now.

~Sara. . .~ she let the disruptor slip from her grasp and fall to the floor before turning to where the body of her friend laid, walking towards her corpse and bending down to lift her torn and mangled body from the floor, she didn't care about the blood, about the carnage, about the innards, the bones sticking out, none of the gore bothered her, what bothered her was that it was Sara's cold, dead body in her arms, even if her friend was dead she couldn't just leave her on the ground like that, she couldn't leave her in such a dishonorable way, so she lifted her and moved to set her still form down on the sofa before kneeling besides the bloodied corpse, feeling something she hadn't felt for years, feeling the burning of tears in her eyes as she swept the blood matted blond hair from her friend's face and moved to shut her friend's eyes for the last time, eyes that she would never see narrow at her again when the blond fussed, or go wide at one of the redhead's crazy stunts, eyes which had been left lifeless because of the decepticons, because they were hunting her, and her friend paid the ultimate price for it when she wasn't even aware of the danger, just an innocent bystander, someone who had nothing they wanted, had done nothing against them, someone who wasn't even involved in this war, but now Sara was gone, as innocent as she was, and Victoria was still alive, even though she was the one they were after.

The redhead was doing her best to hold back the tears, she hadn't even heard Ironhide change back into his alt mode, nor was she aware of his holoform standing right behind her until he placed a hand on her shoulder, she couldn't even bring herself to look at him right now, she didn't know what to do as he knelt down near to her and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into a protective embrace, she turned, burying her face against the chest of his holoform, and then the tears came, rolling soundlessly down her face as she grabbed onto him for some kind of comfort, silent sobs shook her, even though she tried to contain them.

"They won't get away with this." she heard him say as he lifted her to her feet "We need to get you out of here." she just nodded, it's all she could do right now as he began to guide her to his alt mode, picking up the dropped sensor disruptor along the way. He helped her up and into the cab since she was still so shaken right now, the seatbelt slid over her and secured her of it's own accord and she just slumped against it a bit as she felt the holoform get in behind her, she felt him put an arm around her, she knew he was just trying to comfort her but she wasn't sure any amount of comforting could help right now, though she would be thankful for his attempts if she was able to be thankful for anything right now, she just allowed herself to lean against him, her hand coming up to grip his holoform's shirt tightly as she closed her eyes, trying to will the tears away as they started to drive away from the horror scene that was once her friend's home. Mutes may not be able to scream, but it certain felt like her soul was doing just that.

* * *

The blood had been cleaned off, now that it was all over the pain from the gash in her shoulder had set in, Ratchet had sterilized, stitched and bandaged the wound as Sideswipe and Ironhide went to gather a few things for her from her home, she just couldn't gather the strength to go with them, her mind was still a bit of a blur, the pain, the rage, the guilt, her emotions swirled like a hurricane, the more she thought about it, the madder she became, but trying not to think about it was even harder. She was just sitting there now, still in the med bay, Ratchet kept trying to get her to respond, to sign, anything, but she had more or less just sat since Ironhide had brought her in for her wound to be taken care of. The medic had offered to keep an optic on the redhead until her guardian returned, but he seemed to be holding back frustration right now, she could tell he was trying not to let the aggravation show, for her sake, and she didn't mean to seem like she was completely ignoring him, but she didn't know what to do right now, how to react, how to answer.

She looked down at her hands, now cleaned of the blood, Sara's blood, that had stained them before, she didn't even realize Ratchet had placed his palms flat on the table she was sitting on, his holoform long since abandoned , and was leaning down to be closer to eye level so he could speak to her.

"Victoria, please, respond, tell me what happened." he said, but the redhead didn't even look up, just dropped her hands in her lap and hung her head, letting her hair cover her face to hide the fact she was holding back more tears.

She heard a heavy sigh come from the medic at her lack of response as he stood once more. "I just want to help." she heard him mutter. She did her best to choke back her tears, but her eyes still burned, she looked up finally, after a half hour of him trying to get some kind of response from her.

She lifted her hands to sign, they were shaky, too shaky, she wasn't even able to properly form the first sign before she just let her hands drop back into her lap, lowering her gaze once more ~It's useless.~ she thought as she just closed her eyes, her head bowed, none of her normal spunk, wit and sarcasm would come to her right now. She clinched her fists once more, arms shaking from the strain as her fingernails bit into her palms.

~Her life, she had so much to look forward to, so much she wanted to do. Why her? Why the one woman who had never done anything to hurt anyone else? Just to get to me, because of this fucking thing in my throat, they killed HER. She wasn't involved in this, she didn't even know about it, they had no right! No fucking right! How DARE they take her? She was defenseless, she was never a fighter, but those honorless mother FUCKERS targeted her! She had a heart of gold and the ripped it out her damned chest! If only we had gone there sooner, if only I had warned her. . .~ her eyes snapped open, still hidden behind her hair at her thoughts ~. . .If only I could do the same to them.~

She looked up from her thoughts a moment, seeing Ratchet was still standing there, looking at her with a professional but concerned expression, her own expression had hardened by this point as she brought up her hands once more, signing only one word 'Revenge.'

Ratchet just stood there a moment, almost as if he didn't know what to make of what she had finally stated, after a few seconds a sigh came from the medic as he leaned down a bit, getting nearer eye level "I know you are upset, I. . .I can understand your desire to take vengeance, but you have to also understand that there is no way you would be able to attack a decepticon and survive." he said, calmly but softly.

Victoria just shook her head 'Do you think I really care right now? She's dead, the best friend I've had for the last six years, someone I wouldn't have hesitated to call my sister, and I had to close her dull, lifeless eyes today. Do you think I care if I get hurt right now? They have to pay.' she signed, her hands having finally stopped shaking enough for her to do so, her expression not once softening even as tears still rose, tears she was determined to hold back.

"You'll suffer the same fate if you try to fight them. Just the pretender attacking you today caused you to have to have your shoulder stitched closed, who knows what else it would have done to you had Ironhide not heard the fight when he did." Ratchet stated.

'The cut didn't come from it attacking me, it came from me attacking it.' she signed.

"You attacked it?" he sounded a bit taken aback by that information. "You could have gotten yourself offlined! Just what were you thinking?"

'I was thinking, that it needed to die.' she responded, Ratchet just sighed, shaking his head a bit.

At that point Ironhide walked into the med bay "How's she doin' Ratch?" he asked.

The medic stood fully and turned to face Ironhide before answering "I have already tended to her shoulder, she is responsive now, though she is still rather upset and. . . and she wants revenge Ironhide."

"I don't blame 'er." the black mech said before walking towards where the redhead was sitting on the table.

"She wants to fight them Ironhide, you know what kind of danger that would put her in." the medic retorted.

"She just lost her best friend Ratchet, what else would you expect? Her to be fraggin' happy about it." Ironhide growled at the medic. "She just needs time to think alright?"

"Fine, but just make sure she doesn't try to fight them. . .again at least." Ratchet said, throwing up his hands defensively.

Ironhide then looked to the redhead, she had already begun to stand at this point, shoulder bandaged, clothing still stained despite having cleaned most the blood off of her, she looked about as bad as she felt right now, he just offered his hand to her, which she climbed onto before being lifted to his shoulder, where she took a seat before they made their way from the med bay, she could have swore she heard Ratchet muttering something, but right now she didn't really care.

They made their way towards the warehouse she would be staying in, not a word spoken, her mood was still rather cold and she figured her guardian would rather remain quiet then say the wrong thing in this situation. She was hair trigger right now and even the smallest thing said wrong, no matter who it came from, would be able to flare her temper right now. Once inside he set her back on the ground and kneeled down to talk to her.

"We got what we thought you might need, figured you'd want your bike too, Sideswipe put it in the hanger next door." he said, she only gave a small nod before Ironhide stood "Guess you need some time alone, wouldn't blame you." he finished before turning to leave, Victoria didn't even look up, she needed time, just like she had needed time after losing her family.

* * *

The night was a restless one, she couldn't even close her eyes without seeing the images from the previous day, a few had tried to come by and cheer her up, but she had preferred her solitude. She finally sat up, giving up on the concept of sleep, she put on her glasses before looking over to the clock, it was only 4:48 in the morning, she just sighed, at least the tears were gone now, replaced by nothing but a dull anger.

She didn't figure any of the autobot's would be up at this time, so she strapped the disruptor in it's holster on her thigh and made her way outside, heading to where Ironhide told her Sideswipe had put her bike. Upon entering the building, she paused, she saw her bike alright, but she also saw Sideswipe parked right next to it. ~Just my fucking luck.~ she thought as she just looked between Sideswipe and her bike a moment, she wasn't sure if he was awake or asleep, she had learned the hard way with Ironhide that it truly was impossible to tell when they were sleeping if they were in their alt mode. She only hoped Sideswipe was resting, and if he was, that he was a heavy sleeper. She made her way towards where the bike was next to him, being careful not to make any more noise than absolutely needed as she got to the bike and moved to start wheeling it away from him, she just froze as she felt a hand on her uninjured shoulder, mentally cursing her rotten luck.

"Ironhide told me you might try something like this." came Sideswipe's voice, she turned to face his holoform, glaring at him, he put his hands up a bit at her reaction "Hey, if you need to go for a ride to clear your head then I won't stop you, but I did promise Ironhide I'd go with you to make sure you were safe."

Victoria just sighed, she gave a small nod as she got on her bike and started it up, she saw Sideswipe's holoform vanish before the engine of his alt form roared to life.

"What about your helmet?" he asked, she just shook her head, she had one in the saddlebag, yes, but she had never worn it, as far as she was concerned, that helmet wasn't hers.

~It's Sara's~ she thought to herself as she revved the engine before pulling off, tires squealing a bit from the sudden take off, she heard Sideswipe pull out after her, once they cleared the trees surrounding the warehouse area he made his way to her side, she hadn't even begun to hit high speeds yet, her speedometer was barely showing 40, she simply glanced over to where Sideswipe was besides her on the road, she sighed before signing with one hand, using finger spelling since the signs normally required both hands 'Keep up.'

"Don't worry about that Vic, I won't fall behind." Sideswipe responded, the redhead just gave a small nod, she figured he would be able to, seeing as his alt mode was a stingray, a car known for having a top speed of around 170 MPH, without even factoring in whatever cybertronian technology may add to that speed. She then gunned the engine, pulling forward a bit before he matched her speed, it was such early morning that she wasn't too worried about cops right now, at least not this far out of the city, Sideswipe had no trouble keeping pace with her even as her bike's speedometer hit 120, the average top speed for a gold wing of this model, or at least the top speed when they were kept at factory standard, Vic had been a street racer for a time after all, and nothing on her bike was kept to factory standard and the NOS kit hidden in the compartment behind the passenger seat certainly wasn't factory standard.

They drove for a while before they came to a long, flat stretch of road, Vic slowed her bike as she pulled off onto the side of the road, Sideswipe did the same, parking beside her once she had come to a stop.

"Is everything alright?" She heard him ask, she just nodded, looking down the road a moment before motioning forward.

'There's about twenty miles of clear road here, flat, near a straight shot. Up for a race?' she signed, looking over to the corvette and waiting for his answer.

"Ironhide will scrap me if he finds out, I don't even want to think what Ratchet would do." Sidewipe said, this provoking the first smirk in since the fight from the redhead.

'I thought you would take the chance, but if you're too scared of getting shown up by a human. . .'

"Shown up? You don't know who you're talking to do you?"

'So you accept the challenge?'

"Yea, just don't tell the others alright?"

'Deal. There's an old abandoned gas station about 10 miles down, that's our mark. You count down.' she signed before pulling her bike into the middle of the road, Sideswipe pulled next to her as she kicked on her bike's radio as Boston's Don't Look Back came over the speakers, she turned it up before looking to him with a small nod.

She heard Sideswipe's engine rev before he began "Three. . ."

The redhead looked forward, gripping the hand bars, eyes narrowing on the road ahead.

"Two. . ."

She lowered her posture on the bike, bringing the profile of her body closer to the motorcycle itself.

"One. . ."

Both engines roared as they took off, speed climbing quickly, Vic had hit 150 in a matter of seconds, having pulled in front of Sideswipe by two car lengths due to how quickly a motorcycle got up to full speed, the wind rushed pass her, her fire red hair whipping behind her from the speed, the sounds of the radio overcoming that of the wind just slightly as she heard Sideswipe's engine drawing closer, she knew he hadn't hit top speeds yet, and that he would be able to get ahead of her soon, but though she took a split second to glance at the little silver button on her left handlebar, she didn't move for it, not yet, it was always better to save that for the final stretch. Soon the silver corvette was along side her, matching her speed once he was there.

"Is that it? 150? You're making this too easy." Sideswipe taunted, she could tell there was jest in his voice.

Victoria just smirked, they were hitting the halfway mark at this point. She heard Sideswipe switch gears as he gained a bit more speed, starting to pull ahead of her a bit ~That's it, keep thinking this is top speed for this bike.~ she thought as she realized he wasn't even trying for his top speed, he was just using enough to get ahead of her, he kept gaining ground, leveling out his speed at only one car length ahead of her. She could now see the old abandoned gas station ahead, she smirked. ~And this is why you never take it easy on me.~ she thought as she lowered her pose against the bike as much as she could and pressed that little silver button, the nos took effect in a split second, speed increased as the speedometer maxed out at 175, the highest it was able to register as the nos coursed through the engine, as the speed increased so did the redhead's adrenaline, her grip on the hand bars tightened, everything felt like it had slowed down for her as she gained on Sideswipe, pulling even with him for a moment as her bike overcame his position and pulled ahead, the gas station drawing nearer and nearer as she heard his engine rev to try and close the gap, she heard her heart pounding over the sounds of the wind, the radio and her opponent as the seconds seemed to crawl by. Sideswipe managed to get at her side once more, having accelerated beyond his alt mode's normal top speeds as they shot pass the gas station, near equal with each other.

They both brought their speeds down in order to come to a stop, pulling onto the side of the road.

"What was that?" Sideswipe said as soon as they had come to a stop.

'NoS.' she signed.

"You didn't tell me you had a NoS kit on that bike, if I would have known that I would have used mine!"

'Well now you know, going easy on me is never a good idea. So who was in front when we passed?'

"I think that was a tie to be honest."

'A tie? Well, it's better than losing.'

"Yea it is, still can't believe I didn't realize you had NoS, I should have run a scan first."

'Live and learn Sideswipe.'

"Yea. So, are you feeling any better?"

'Just a little, it will take time, but the pain will fade in time.'

"Losses are like that." Sideswipe said, Victoria just nodded before the sound of another engine caught both their attention, it was coming from where they had just finished racing, Victoria could only see the headlights coming, so she was unable to identify the vehicle and looked over to Sideswipe.

"We have to move Vic, it's Barracade." she heard Sidwswipe say, she gave a quick nod before turning to pull off, Sideswipe did the same, keeping at her side as they started getting up to speed, but their acceleration wasn't quite fast enough, Barricade caught up with them in no time, transforming with a jump, going right over Sideswipe's alt form and Victoria, he landed on the road in front of them. The redhead swerved to the side as Sideswipe transformed and readied his swords "Victoria, run!" the silver bot said as he got into a battle stance.

"I'm not here to attack." She heard Barricade say, the redhead paused, bringing her bike to a stop and looked at the decepticon with a puzzled expression.

"I doubt you just want to talk." Sideswipe stated, his stance shifting slightly into a more offensive one.

"And what would you know Autobot?" the decepticon retorted.

Victoria left her bike running as she lowered the stand and got off, turning to face where the two cybertronians were, before looking right at Barricade and signing 'You want to talk? Fine, but I'd start talking fast if I were you.'

Barricade gave a bit of a humph "Brave for a fleshling." the decepticon said as Sideswipe backed away from him, moving to stand closer to where Victoria was, putting himself somewhat between her and Barricade as the black and white bot continued. "I'm here to see about getting that piece of the AllSpark from you, chasing you all over is getting a bit annoying."

'So you thought you'd just come and ask to rip my throat out. I don't think so.' she signed, moving slightly to Sideswipe's side so Barricade would be able to see her response.

"There must be a way of removing it, there is no need to kill you if it can be taken out another way." the decepticon said as Sideswipe kept his blades out, looking ready to lunge as so much as a hint of an attack.

'There was no need to kill Sara either but that sure as fuck didn't stop you!' she signed, her eyes narrowing on the enemy, anger was showing in her expression.

"If you hadn't kept running from us, we wouldn't have needed to kill her." he replied, this caused Victoria to bite her lip out of anger before grabbing the disruptor at her thigh and going to charge at Barricade only to be met with Sideswipe's hand coming down to block her path, the silver bot's fingers carefully wrapping around her to hold her from trying to attack.

"Calm down Vic, he's not worth it." Sideswipe said to her as he gently held her there, the silver bot's attention still on the decepticon however, watching for signs of aggression.

"It's a wonder she's not dead already." Barricade stated as Victoria finally stopped trying to get at him. Sideswipe moved his hand away upon seeing she had seemed to calm down enough to not try and attack the decepticon.

The redhead just looked up to Barricade, her eyes narrowing as she glared 'You want an answer, get slagged glitch, there's your fucking answer.' she signed, purposely using cybertronian insults that she had picked up from being around the autobots.

"Fine, have it your way, next time we meet, it won't be to talk." Barricade stated as he changed into his alt form and peeled out before he shot down the road.

Sideswipe gave a bit of a relieved sigh as he retracted his swords, he then turned to Victoria, leaning down a bit to look at her. "Did you just call him a glitch and tell him. . .to get slagged?" he asked with a slightly amused smirk.

'Damn right I did.' the redhead signed in reply. The silver bot just started chuckling, shaking his head at her as she signed 'What?' to him.

"You've been spending too much time with Ironhide." he said, still chuckling a bit as he transformed back into his alt form "Come on, we should really get back now, before Barricade decides to come back, we'll have to tell them that we encountered him once they're awake."

Victoria gave a small nod as she made her way back to her bike, looking over to Sideswipe once she had gotten on 'We have to leave out the fact I almost kicked your ass in a race of course.'

"It was a tie!"

'You sure? Earlier you said you just thought it was a tie.'

"I'm pretty sure it was."

'Only pretty sure, not hearing a lot of conviction there.'

Sideswipe just gave a chuckle "Nice to see you've got your sarcasm back, was starting to miss it already."

"Shut up and drive." she signed before swinging her bike around and heading back the way they came, Sideswipe at her side as the sped down the road, she felt a bit better now, sure, the pain was still there, the wound still fresh, but the open road had a way of healing, a way of clearing her mind, even if she hadn't made her way to her normal destination, sometimes she didn't need to go there, in some situations only one thing could help, sometimes, she needed to just drive.

* * *

It had been four days, from what she had been told Optimus had contacted those who dealt with national security in regards to what had happened to Sara, they then contacted Sara's family using a cover story and funeral arrangements were made. It had been a closed casket service, Victoria couldn't blame them and was a bit thankful for the fact. There was no way she could have seen Sara's body, not again, she still remembered seeing her in death once already, she would have rathered not have any more memories of her friend in death. The rest of the funeral group had already left by now, she was the only one who stayed behind, well, her and her guardian of course. Ironhide sat in his topkick form on the pathway of the cemetery, waiting silently for her. She glanced back to where he was, knowing she was the only one besides him who was there since the others had departed.

'One moment.' she signed, there was no response, she had expected such, as she turned back to the fresh grave, the headstone wouldn't be placed for a few more days, for now there was only a plate with Sara's name on it, a temporary marker. Victoria took a step forward, the slim, black dress she wore swayed slightly, a feeling she wasn't quite use to, she never really wore dresses, but this one had been a present from Sara, her friend had insisted she would look great in it ~If only you were able to see my friend.~ she thought as she knelt down on the side of the grave, moving to place the yellow rose she had in her hand at the head of the grave, she had chosen yellow because no other color could work, she decided against the normal lilies or other flowers normally used for funerals, or even the normal colors for roses normally used at a funeral, instead she had chosen the yellow rose, one which stood for friendship and joy, one which suited her little blond friend in life, and how she wanted to always remember her.

She sighed, most would say something at this point, but she was unable to do so verbally, she just closed her eyes a moment, withdrawing her hand from where she had set the rose before standing. ~I guess this is goodbye, suppose heaven needed back it's angel, I just wish it hadn't taken you from this world in such a way. You will be missed, more than I think you may have realized. Goodbye sister, and I'm sorry. . .~ she turned back to where Ironhide was parked, walking towards his alt form and getting in.

"You alright?" he asked once she had closed the door, she gave a small nod, though her eyes were stinging a little she had managed not to cry at the funeral, after all, Sara would never have wanted to see her like that while she was alive, she figured she wouldn't want her redheaded friend in tears today either, she could just about imagine Sara telling her that her crying freaked her out and asking her what happened to the normal unbreakable redhead she knew. The thought brought a slight smile to Vic's lips, though it didn't stay there long. She sighed and patted Ironhide's dashboard slightly. "It's alright Vic." he said, his voice actually a bit soothing despite it's gruffness.

They pulled off and she looked once more to the grave before looking forward again 'Sorry for making you wait.' she signed, she hadn't known how long she had been out there after everyone else had left, but he had waited there patiently for her.

"Don't worry bout it, you needed time to say goodbye, nothin' to be sorry bout." he told her, she just nodded. "Lennox and Epps made it to the base durin' the service, didn't wanna interrupt you." he added, she nodded once more.

She had been told about them, members of NEST before it almost got disbanded because of an asshole with a big mouth. Though NEST was still active, the autobots had decided it was best to live off of the military base to avoid a repeat of a situation which had then all put under nets, they had settled at the current base after the defense secretary had cleared their usage of the once abandoned storage facility when they requested their new settlement be near to where their human friends where.

"Oh, hope you don't mind kids, Lennox brought his wife Sarah and his daughter Annabelle with them." Ironhide said after a moment, Vic leaned forward slightly, a small smile on her lips.

'I like children, as odd as it may seem.' she signed before sitting back once more.

"Good, 'cause that lil' girl's a hand full, warnin' ya now, and she's only four."

'I think I'll be able to keep up.'

A small chuckle came from Ironhide and the redhead just rested her arm on the inside of the door as they made the rest of the trip, it was only a fifteen minute journey, once they pulled up at the base and Ironhide came to a stop, Vic got out and stood back so he could transform. Once he had converted to his robotic form he turned to her.

"I would tell you not to be intimidated by Epps, but I don't think that's gonna be an issue with you." Ironhide said with a small smirk before they heard a voice call from near the warehouses.

"IR'NHIDE!" came the excited call as they both looked towards the source only to see a little girl with blond curls running full tilt towards the huge mech, a man with brown hair in a slightly grown out crew cut trying to chase her down.

"Annabelle, wait! At least let him get inside!" the man said as he tried to catch the little girl, Ironhide just dropped down onto one of his knees before she got too close.

"There's the lil' trouble maker." Ironhide said as Annabelle ran up and tried to hug his shin. Victoria just gave a soundless chuckle as the little girl's father came to a stop nearby and looked up at Ironhide.

"Sorry about that, she's just been excited to see you again." the man said, Ironhide just shook his head.

"Don't worry bout it Lennox, you oughtta know I don't mind." the black mech stated with a bit of a chuckle before looking at the tiny child who had attached herself to his shin.

"I guess you're right, good to see you though Ironhide." Lennox said before looking at the redhead "You must be Victoria, Optimus told me you'd be here, I'm William Lennox, nice to meet you." he said moving to shake Victoria's hand, she gave a small nod, offering a smile.

'Nice to meet you.' she signed, taking a chance that he may understand, though if him rubbing the back of his head with an awkward look on his face was any indication, he didn't. Victoria just smiled, shaking her head a bit.

"She's mute Lennox, but she can hear you just fine." Ironhide said noticing Will's reaction before turning his attention back to Annabelle, who had begun trying to climb up the weapons specialist's leg. Ironhide just moved a hand near her to make sure she didn't fall.

"Ah, see, Optimus forgot to mention that." Lennox said before moving to try and grab Annabelle "Annabelle, Ironhide's not a jungle gym sweety."

Ironhide just shook his head "It's alright Lennox, I got 'er." Ironhide said, Lennox gave a chuckle at that, watching as his daughter kept trying to climb up the giant mech's leg, Ironhide's hand stayed nearby to catch her in case she slipped. "Most of us have gotten use to Vic's signin' by now, it's as easy for us to understand as talkin', sometimes we forget that not all humans know sign language. So where's Sarah and Epps at?"

"They're talking to Ratchet in the med bay." Lennox answered. Ironhide gave a small nod as he scooped Annabelle up gently and set her on the ground next to her father, the little girl grabbed a hold of Lennox's hand with a smile.

"Ir'nhide going see Mommy?" she asked, looking up to her father who returned she smile and nodded.

"Yes he is sweetheart." Lennox said as he leaned down to pick up his daughter, setting her at his hip with his arm around her before looking to Ironhide "Meet you inside." he said before they turned and walked towards the med bay.

Vic looked over to Ironhide, seeing he was smiling a bit 'Cute kid, sure is hyper though.' she signed.

"Yea, she is, still think you'll be able to keep up?" he asked as he stood.

Vic just looked down at her current outfit before looking back up to him and signing 'Yes, once I'm out of this dress at least.'

Ironhide nodded "Alright, go head and get changed, meet us in the med bay when you're ready so you can meet the others."

Vic nodded before turning to go to the warehouse that served as her room, changing didn't take her long, never did, she resecured the sensor disruptor, which had been hidden under her dress before since she had made a habit of not going anyplace without the defensive weapon, to her thigh and soon she was on her way to the med bay, having to dodge around bickering twins in the process.

Once inside she saw Lennox, Annabelle, Ironhide, Ratchet and two she had not met yet, who she assumed were Sarah and Epps, in the med bay talking. Ratchet and Ironhide had taken a seat on the floor, likely to make conversation easier, and Annabelle seemed to have gone right back to climbing all over Ironhide. The redhead couldn't help but give a soundless chuckle at the sight, she knew Ironhide wasn't always as harsh and rugged as he acted most of the time, she had seen for herself how kind he could be on numerous occasions, but seeing him let little Annabelle climb all over him, hand hovering near her to make sure she didn't slip and fall, it was just too precious of a sight. Victoria had been told that Ironhide had acted as the Lennox family guardian for a while, but when the autobots had settled in their new place the family had insisted that he go with them because they didn't want him separated from the friends he had been close to for so long and promised to visit from time to time, a promise today proved they had kept, but she still hadn't completely expect him to be so good with the kid. ~I wouldn't be surprised if that kid ended up calling him Uncle Ironhide one day.~ she mused, shaking her head a bit before moving to join them.

She walked up to her guardian's side, he nodded to her seeing her before her attention was called by Ratchet.

"How is your shoulder healing Victoria?" the medic asked upon seeing her before looking over the stitched up wound, which she had refused to keep a bandage on.

'Well hi to you too, and it's doing fine, little itchy like any healing wound, but not giving me any trouble.' she signed before glancing back to where her guardian was currently being used as a jungle gym.

"Good, if it gives you any problems be sure you notify me, I would not want any infections to set in." Ratchet said, she just looked to him and nodded.

"So that's her then? The girl who's been staying with ya'll." came Sarah's voice, the redhead looked over hearing herself being referred to.

'My name's Victoria.' she signed, again, taking a shot in the dark, and again, getting a clueless look.

"I don't understand sign language hun, I'm sorry" the woman apologized, Vic gave a small nod. "Anyways, I'm Sarah, Will's wife, he told me he ran into you outside." Victoria nodded once more, giving a small wave before the other man spoke up.

"And I'm Robert Epps, nice to meet you Victoria." Epps introduced himself "I know a bit of sign language, have trouble with a few words, but if you're patient with me I'll be able to understand most of what you say."

Victoria gave a small nod 'Finally, another human here I don't need to write for.' she signed, making the gestures a bit slower than she normally signed, to make them easier to understand since that normally helped those new to sign language understand.

Epps nodded "Yup, just don't get annoyed if you have to fingerspell some words."

'That is not a problem.' she signed, giving a small smile, quite glad at least one of them understood sign language. Victoria then paused as she felt a tiny finger poke her in the side of the head, looking over to see little Annabelle perched on Ironhide's leg next to where she was standing.

"Your hair is really red." the little girl stated "Why is it so red?"

Victoria couldn't help but smile at the little one's curiosity, she knew she couldn't sign the answer to the girl so she glanced up to Ironhide 'Think you could explain it to her?' she signed to him, the black mech gave a nod before looking to the little girl.

"She dyes her hair Annabelle." he told her, the little one just nodded.

"Ooooh, why she isn't saying anything? Is her throat hurt like 'umbleBee's?" came Annabelle's next question.

"Somethin' like that, yea." Ironhide answered.

"Oh? Is Ratchet trying to fix hers too?" Annabelle's next question caused a chuckle to come from Ironhide, as well as from the others standing in the room, even Vic couldn't help but give a silent laugh, shaking her head a bit at that one.

"Hers cannot be fixed Annabelle, the vocal folds in her throat were heavily damaged, half of one of them is missing." the medic explained, Vic just looked at him with an eyebrow raised, he noticed her glance and added "I could not help but notice the damage when I did that scan on the Allspark fragment."

"Wait? Allspark fragment?" came Lennox's voice rather suddenly, he looked right at Vic before looking to Ratchet "How would you have seen the damage to her vocal cords by doing a scan on an Allspark fragment? And what Allspark fragment?"

Ratchet paused a moment, looking to Lennox "I thought Optimus had informed you."

"No, he didn't, care to fill us in?" Lennox said, glancing at the redhead for a second before looking to the medic expectantly.

"She has a very small fragment of the Allspark in her throat, slightly smaller then the size of a human thumb nail, it is dormant and I have concluded that it does not pose a risk to her health. Unfortunately, due to it's location, it cannot be removed without significant risk to her life." Ratchet explained, that calm, professional mannerism in full force.

"Don't you think the government just may need to know about this? The decepticons are going to come after her if they find out, they'll kill her!" Lennox said in response, his voice raising just ever so slightly.

"They're already after her Lennox, but we've been keepin' her safe, why you think she's stayin' with us?" Ironhide interjected before moving his hand to grab Annabelle as he saw her slip a bit, Victoria had also seen the little one's slip and already had her hands up to catch the girl, lowering her safely to the ground, and giving the child a small smile before looking over to where the debate was happening. Lennox's expression had softened a little she noticed.

"We still need to let them know at least, if they're already coming after her, then who knows what else they're planning." Lennox said, his voice back to it's previous, lower volume as his daughter bounded up to him and tackled his legs, he looked down to her with a laugh "Hey now, calm down kiddo."

"If they know she got a piece of the Allspark in her throat, they'll try to lock her up man, you know how those pencil pushers can be." Epps said to Lennox.

"You're right, but we have to let them know the decepticons might be up to something." Lennox said as he turned to look back at Epps.

"Well you know, you could just tell them there's been more decepticon activity, that way they know to be ready but this poor girl doesn't end up treated like government property." Sarah spoke up as she moved to pick up her daughter, the little girl clung to her mother the moment she had been lifted from the ground.

'I have to have my freedom, without it, I'd rather be dead.' Victoria signed, forgetting for a moment, that she needed to sign slowly for Epps, but his nod told her he had at least caught most of it.

"I can't say I blame you on that one." Epps said before looking to Sarah and Will "She said she'd rather die than lose her freedom."

Will and Sara nodded at that before Ironhide spoke up "She's a civilian, but she's done pretty well handlin' herself, plus she got me as her guardian, and I sure as the pit ain't bout to let the decepticons get 'er." he said as his hand came almost protectively to her back, Vic just gave a small smile, patting the side of Ironhide's leg to show she was actually grateful for his protection.

"You're her guardian? Man, I feel sorry for any decepticon who tries to go through you to get to her." Epps stated, this caused a small, silent chuckle to come from Vic.

They just stood around the med bay for the longest time, Victoria was mostly just listening but when she made a comment Epps seemed more than happy to interpret when Ratchet or Ironhide didn't beat him to it, Annabelle had to be chased down in the med bay at least twice before they left for the night, they said they were staying in a nearby hotel during their week long visit and the redhead, who had ended up sitting on Ironhide's shoulder once more by the end of it all, had fallen asleep on her guardian, having ended up on one of the more stable parts of his shoulder.

* * *

**Author's notes:**

_OK, this chapter's a little short, but I didn't want to drag it out too much plus, well, I have more planned and didn't want to stuff too much all into one chapter, gotta spread it out a little to keep it followable. Also, consitering the events in this one, well, I figured only so much seriousness should be in one chapter to avoid it being a major downer._

_Yes, her best friend got killed, I know, I warned ya'll that you were gonna meet the pretender this chapter, but I kind of left out that little bit of information. I tried to find some way of putting humor into it as one of my readers suggested, but I just couldn't, it was too serious of a scene. I tried to still get some humor into this chapter, but I'll tell you, it wasn't easy. (Sorry MaraGen!)_

_Also, yes, I know Will's wife is named Sarah, but I totally spaced on that fact when I named Vic's friend Sara, thankfully the spelling it slightly different so maybe, just maybe that'll help avoid too much confusion. Sorry bout that, that was lack of foresight on my behalf._

_Anyways, I hope ya'll enjoyed it, don't worry, not all the chapters will be this serious, just, well, it's story, sometimes serious, darker subjects come up._


	5. Enjoy the ride

It was quite the sight Victoria had woken up to this morning, the Lennox family and Epps had been visiting for five days already and the redhead now knew that when Ironhide told her that little Annabelle was a handful, he hadn't been kidding, and it seemed today she had proven it yet again. She had walked outside to not only Epps, Lennox and his wife searching all over, but also most of the autobots had resorted to their holoforms to help look for the little girl, who, as Sideswipe informed her, had decided to play hide and seek without letting anyone else know about it. So now Victoria was also helping search, her and Bumblebee had decided to search the lounge area.

Bumblebee's holoform was currently looking through the cabinets to the side of the room while the redhead was looking under the seats, tables and numerous other items in the room ~There's only so many places that little terror could hide, just where is she?~ she thought as she started also looking behind crates and other things that were leaned up against the walls, seeing no sign of the little one, she gave a small sigh before heading over to where Bumblebee was looking, he turned to face her as she approached.

'Any luck?' she signed to him, he just shook his head. 'Can any of you use your sensors to find her heat signature.' she inquired, tilting her head slightly as Bumblebee's holoform started to sign, he had been working on signing with his holoform but was still getting use to it, he had tried to do so in his robotic form as well but some of the signs proved too hard so far.

'Ratchet is trying that, no luck yet.' Bumblebee signed, Victoria gave a small nod, looking up slightly as she saw one of the cabinet doors near the holoform's head move a bit.

Next thing she knew there was Annabelle, leaping right at Bumblebee with a hyper squeal as she jumped onto his back, causing him to almost stumble forward from the unexpected tackle.

"'UMBLEBEE!" Annabelle called out as Bumblebee regained his footing, a smile coming across his face as he moved to lower Annabelle to the ground so she wasn't hanging on his back, Vic couldn't help but give a silent laugh at the scene, shaking her head a bit.

'Well, good news is, you found her, or she found you, depending how you want to look at it.' the redhead signed, Bumblebee nodded a bit before he picked the little girl up to avoid her running off again.

"Why you took so long to find me?" Annabelle asked as she was lifted, Bumblebee just smiled, lightly poking her on the nose which got a giggle from the girl. Bumblebee motioned to the door before heading that direction to let the others know he found Annabelle, Vic just nodded, moving to one of the smaller seats in the longing area, they had been looking for Annabelle for a half hour only to have her tackle Bumblebee's holoform in the end of it, the redhead just shook her head at the thought.

She soon heard the door open once more, looking back to see Ironhide, Bumblebee, Sarah and Annabelle come back in, Ironhide and Bumblebee were back in their normal forms now, since the little one had been found and Sarah was carrying Annabelle at her hip, Vic stood from where she had taken a seat as they drew nearer.

"Just wanted to say thank ya for helping us find Annabelle and Will asked me to let you know that he just got a response back from Secretary Keller, they're going to keep an eye on the area. Now he told them the decepticons have been after you, but he didn't tell them bout the fragment, so they won't know unless something happens and we have no choice but to tell them, alright?" Sarah said to her, the redhead gave a small nod.

'Thank you, I know if things get too bad they may have to find out, but I'm hoping to avoid that.' she signed in response as Ironhide interpreted what she said to Sarah.

"Yea, I can understand that hun, Well, I'm going to go bring this one to her father before she decides to hide again." Sarah said before she turned to leave, Victoria just nodded, waving goodbye to Annabelle, who had already started waving to them as the two left.

The redhead then looked up to Ironhide and Bumblebee, they were just looking at her, she raised an eyebrow a moment 'What?' she signed.

Bumblebee gave something akin to a sigh "~Things ain't that simple.~" came the voice clip over his radio as he looked up to Ironhide.

The taller mech leaned down a bit as he saw Vic tilt her head inquisitively, he offered his hand down to her and she climbed up before he lifted her to eye level. "Bumblebee's right Vic, Sarah didn't know it but, there's been a few developments. Seems the decepticons know somethin' we don't, they attacked some supply ships already." Ironhide said, Vic looked to him before giving a small nod.

'Supply ships, only reason they would attack those is if they needed what's on them, think they might be building something?' she signed.

"I think so, but the question's what and why. I ain't got any idea what they're workin' on." Ironhide said with a small sigh before moving to place her on his shoulder, Bumblebee looked up to where she was now perched on her guardian and smiled.

"~Don't worry little lady~ One step at a time~ Figure this mess out~" came a series of clips from the yellow bot's speakers, Victoria couldn't help but give a smile, nodding to him.

They turned to make their way outside, she braced her feet against the fender part of Ironhide's shoulder as they moved to keep her balance steady, Bumblebee went off to join Sideswipe, she had heard that the two of them were sparring a little before the Annabelle situation had occurred and assumed they were going to continue their match. She was almost tempted to ask to watch them but she knew she would likely get in the way, besides, how could they have fun if they were too worried about stepping on her.

She looked over to Ironhide from her seat on his shoulder, reaching over and tapping the side of his head with her hand, once he looked over to her she signed 'So, you just picked me up and put me on your shoulder, mind telling me where you're carrying me?'

"I was gonna bring you back to your room. I'm goin' get a bit of target practice in, since Lennox and his family are goin' off base to see Sam and Mikaela." he responded.

'Target practice? Well, would you mind a little company? I don't have any other plans.' she signed, giving a small smirk.

"Epps is gonna be keepin' me company, but I don't mind if you wanna come too. " Ironhide told her, she just gave an affirmative nod as he walked pass the warehouses and to the area that had been set up for target practice, it was a rather long stretch, thankfully the base was a good many miles from any other structures, so there was no need to worry about any wayward shots.

Once they got there Ironhide put her back on the ground, sure enough Epps had been waiting.

"Didn't know you were going to join us Victoria." Epps said once she had gotten back onto the ground, the redhead looked at him and gave a small nod.

"She asked to come along when I told 'er I was gonna be doin' a little target practice." Ironhide said from behind her.

Epps nodded at that "Alright, cool, cool, so, is she going to be shooting with us or just watching?"

Victoria gave a small smirk before turning to look back to her guardian, she crossed her arms over her chest and just looked at him, her tilted slightly and hip cocked to the side a bit, hoping he got the message she was trying to convey with her posture.

Ironhide looked to her, raising an optic ridge for a moment "You wanna try your hand at it, don't you?" he asked her, to which she just gave a nod before he continued "Have you ever handled a gun, besides that disruptor I mean." once more she nodded in response before Ironhide looked to Epps. "Grab 'er one."

Victoria gave a small smile 'Thank you.' she signed to Ironhide before turning as Epps looked at the weapons that had been brought out.

"What kind should I let her use Ironhide? You know her better than I do." Epps asked, Ironhide just looked to the redhead for a moment, almost as if considering what she would be able to handle.

He then looked to Epps "I think there's an AR-15 in there, let her try that." Ironhide said, Vic just tilted her head a bit, she wasn't familiar with what kind of gun that was but Epps soon answered that question.

"You want me to hand her a semi-automatic rifle? You sure she'll be able to handle that?" Epps asked as he moved to pick up one of the guns.

"If not then I'll show her how." Ironhide responded and Epps handed her the weapon he had picked up, she couldn't help but look over it, she had handled shotguns back on the ranch, shooting any coyotes or bobcats that went after the cattle, but she knew there was a difference between a shotgun and a rifle, she had never actually handled a rifle before, but she was about to learn.

"Alright then." Epps said, picking up a weapon himself, an assault rifle by the looks of it "Let get this started." he then turned to where the targets were, they were slightly larger then normal targets, about ten feet tall and a decent distance from where they were standing, however, they still bore the normal markings found on many firing range targets. Epps took aim at one of the targets, raising the assault rifle before opening fire.

She heard Ironhide move behind her and turned to watch as he raised the cannon on his right arm, taking aim on one of the farther targets and fired a charge at it, she watched as it flew right at the target, hitting it dead center and leaving it smoldering, she hadn't noticed before but now that the covering of the target had been partly destroyed by the cannon fire she could see there was metal behind it, metal which was now slightly warped from the blast, she couldn't help but smirk at that as the target smoldered ~Figures they'd have to had steel backings for these.~ she thought as she saw Ironhide looked to her.

"Are you just gonna stand there?" he asked, she shook her head before turning to the targets herself, she could still hear the fire from Epps's gun as she raised the rifle she had in her hands.

She tried to hold it like a shotgun, which was far too high for the gun type, but she had never handled a rifle before so she was going off what she knew as she got into the proper stance for firing a higher recoil gun, the stock of the gun held firmly against her shoulder, basically, had she been holding a shotgun she would have been doing everything right. She was steadying her aim on one of the nearer targets, making sure she was stable and not knowing what kind of recoil to expect from the gun as she switched off the safety. She pulled the trigger and quickly found out what kind of kick this thing had, due to her stance she didn't fall, but she did stumble back a little before getting her footing back, thankfully she had the stock of the gun against her shoulder so there was no impact bruising but she certainly felt that recoil none the less, thankfully the gun had been held to her uninjured shoulder, she switched the safety back on and took her finger off the trigger before bringing her hand up to rub the shoulder which had just taken that recoil. Epps had stopped shooting at this point and Ironhide was looked at the redhead with a slightly amused expression before she shot him a glare.

"You were holdin' it too high Vic." Her guardian said, the redhead sighed.

'I never fired a rifle before, only shotguns.' she signed, she heard Epps chuckle a little behind her.

"A rifle's a lot different from a shotgun Victoria, just be glad you had a decent stance or you'd have just been thrown on your ass." Epps said as he went to reload his weapon.

'Tell that to my shoulder.' she signed to him as she saw Ironhide's holoform activate, his robotic form going still as he did so. The holoform came to stand behind her.

"Lemme show you how to hold it." Ironhide said, Victoria gave a small nod, turning back towards the targets "Alright, now hold it the way you were before and we'll go from there." he told her, she did just that before she felt him at her back, his arms coming around to lower the gun in her grasps, guiding her to the proper position for firing the weapon, guiding her arm down so it was tucked against her side with her finger on the trigger, he moved her hand to the proper position on the barrel grip "That's how you hold it, go head and fire, I'll stand behind you case you stumble again." Ironhide said after her pose was correct, Victoria gave a small nod before taking aim, she switched off the safety before pulling the trigger, the recoil was much easier to handle now that she was holding it the right way.

"Now you got it." Ironhide said putting a hand on her uninjured shoulder before his holoform deactivated and he looked to her from his robotic form, "Just remember to hold it like that next time."

Epps's voice then called both of their attention "Hey Ironhide, she hasn't practiced with you before, right?" he asked, his gaze on the target she had just shot.

"No, why?" Ironhide asked as he too looked towards the target after seeing Epps was staring at it, a small humph came from the mech "Nice shot for the first time handlin' a rifle."

Victoria tilted her head a bit before looking towards the target herself, she gave a small smirk upon seeing what they were taking about, apparently her round hit only a couple of inches from the bull's eye 'Lucky shot.' she signed, Ironhide just shook his head at that before the three of them went back to target practice, she was getting the hand of this rifle by the end of it, though she knew her shoulder was likely going to be sore for it as well.

* * *

_It was total darkness at first. The sound of metallic scraping was ringing out from the distance, sounds from an unseen source, she reached out, her hand meeting a cold, smooth surface as she walked forward, using the surface as a guide, a ways farther she saw a small bit of light coming from a crack, slowly she made her way to it, the sounds outside growing louder, voices filling the air, yells, calls for help, cries of fear, the sounds of fighting. She got to the crack in the wall, seeing it was actually quite large, and peered outside._

_It was a war zone, once proud structures stood torn and mangled, holes blown through the walls, flames burned in the distance as large beings ran pass her hiding spot, smoke hung heavily in the air. The roar of engines above drew her attention skyward as a blackened silver jet of some odd design she had never seen before flew overheard, barely able to be made out through the haze. Something dropped from the jet, falling towards the ground before, the next thing she knew, some kind of explosion burst forth, all she heard was things cracking, a roaring energy, her vision went a blank white as the explosion overcame where she was standing. The sound was deafening, and the pain. . ._

The pain caused her eyes to snap open, it felt like her throat was on fire as she started coughing, rolling out of her bed and landing on her knees on the floor. Victoria brought a hand to her throat, it even felt warmer than usual as another coughing fit overcame her, the taste of copper filled her mouth, she felt something warm pass her lips, dripping onto the floor as this round of coughing subsided.

She made a grab for her glasses on the nightstand, putting them on before looking on the floor, seeing red drops staining it's surface, she brought her hand back to her throat as another coughing fit shook her. It burned so much. She forced herself to stand before rushing out the makeshift room and out the warehouse, making her way towards the med bay, having to pause due to another wave of coughing, small drops of blood spattering from her mouth as she heard someone rushing towards her.

"Vic, you alright?" she heard Ironhide's voice and looked up to him once she was able to, her hand still at her throat, blood staining her lips, he didn't even wait for a reply before he scooped her into his hand and began towards the med bay with her, as soon as he was at the door he gave quite the heavy knock before it opened.

Ratchet hurried them inside and closed the door behind them. "What's wrong Ironhide?" the medic asked as they made their way to the table in the room and Ironhide gently set the redhead on it's surface.

"Don't know, I just saw her running this way before she stopped and doubled over coughin', there's blood on her lips Ratch." the black mech said, not once taking his optics off Victoria as she stilled another coughing fit, no blood came from this one however, thankfully.

'Burns.' Vic managed to sign afterwards, keeping her hand at her throat, the pain was still there, that burning feeling, but it had lessened a little at least.

Ratchet leaned down and brought a finger to softly move her arm down so she would move her hand away from her throat, which she did for the time being. Ratchet took one look at her throat before his optics widened a bit, she looked at him puzzled a moment before she heard Ironhide.

"What in the pit?" her guardian said as he too leaned down to look, only to be nudged back by Ratchet. "Ratchet, you got any idea how that got there?" Ironhide asked, looking at the yellow medic who was currently inspecting whatever they had suddenly found so interesting about her neck.

"I can't be sure unless you be quiet and let me check." Ratchet said before his attention was pulled by another coughing fit from the redhead, though this one was not near as violent as the ones before, she brought her hand back to her throat out of reaction only to have it moved by a large metal finger once more "Keep your hands from your throat for the time being Victoria, I need to run a scan." he said before lifting her head up a bit and doing just as he said he would, she normally hadn't felt the scans before, but this time she could feel a slight cooling sensation as the scan passed over her flesh before Ratchet stood fully once more.

"Well, you get anything?" She heard Ironhide say.

Ratchet gave a sigh "It's come out of dormancy. . .The allspark fragment in her throat is active."

'Wait, what? Does that mean it's doing something to me?' Victoria signed right as Ironhide also asked what Ratchet meant by that. The medic just motioned for them to quiet down.

"I'm not sure, there's some fresh scarring in her throat, even though there is fresh blood around it. It is as if the tissues ripped just to heal right back within moments. Besides a little scarring there are no other effects I can pick up." Ratchet explained.

"No other effects? Then what would you call the glyph on her neck?" Ironhide asked before looking back to Vic as he saw her starting to sign.

'What glyph?' she asked before bringing her hand up to her neck once more, feeling to see if she could feel what they were talking about.

"A glyph has appeared on your throat Victoria, a Cybertronian glyph to be specific." Ratchet answered her as he moved to find a small mirror in the drawers under the table, well, it was small by their standards, it was about the size of a computer tower to her, and held it out for her to look into. She moved her hand from her neck, looking in the mirror at her reflection and at the symbol which looked burned into her skin, positioned slightly to the left of the scar on her throat, she brought her hand up to it, tracing along it's edges before looking over to Ironhide.

'What is it?' she signed to him, since she did not know their language or what their symbols meant.

"It's the glyph meaning persevere, I'm more worried bout why any glyph is on your neck." Ironhide said before looking back to Ratchet "She's not in any danger is she?"

"I cannot be certain, I have never dealt with a situation like this, right now she is in no danger, but the whole situation is rather unpredictable." The medic answered before turning to look towards the redhead once more "Victoria, what occurred prier to this incident?"

'I was sleeping, had some strange dream and woke up to a burning pain in my throat and coughing up blood.' she signed in reply.

"What kind of dream?" came the medic's next question.

'A war zone, tall metal buildings in shambles, metallic sounds, screaming, crying, the sounds of battle, a jet of some design I've never seen dropping something which exploded, there was nothing but pain after that, when I woke up.' she signed, Ratchet gave a small nod.

"Do you think it was showin' her the war?" Ironhide asked, looking towards Ratchet.

"It sounds as if that is the case." the medic said before looking to Victoria once more "We don't know what else may happen, so you'll be staying in the med bay until I can be certain what risks there may be."

At that the redhead stood up, the pain had subsided from her throat at this point thankfully, so she was more than able to give the medic a glare 'Like fuck I am.' she signed.

"You need to stay in the med bay, I need to be able to get to you quickly if there is another situation." the medic retorted.

'I am not staying locked up in the med bay, it'll drive me crazy.' she signed right back.

"It is for your own safety Victoria."

'That argument isn't going to work with me, you should know that by now. The answer's no, end of it.'

"This is not up for debate, you're staying where I can keep watch on your health."

'I'm living on base right now, that should be enough, I will not be restricted to one building. You're right, it's not up for debate, because I'm not about to stay cooped up, there's nothing to debate on the matter.'

"She's not gonna listen Ratchet, trust me, there's no way you'll be able to hold her here once she's made up her mind." Ironhide finally spoke up, she figured likely because he was tired of seeing Ratchet argue with someone who wasn't going to change their mind, Ironhide knew first hand how stubborn she was, after all he did have to chase her down once already.

"Then what do you suggest Ironhide?" Ratchet asked, sounding a bit annoyed at this point as he turned to face the weapons specialist.

"I'll stay near her, even when she's on base, so if somethin' happens I can get 'er to you, alright? 'Cause I know her well enough by now, she will find a way if she don't wanna stay put." the black mech said, moving towards where Victoria was standing on the table and offering his hand to her for her to climb onto before allowing her to get on his shoulder.

"Fine, since she's too slagging stubborn to listen. Just if there are any signs of issues. . ." Ratchet was mid statement when Ironhide cut him off.

"Don't worry, I'll bring 'er to the med bay." the weapons specialist said, Ratchet nodded before Ironhide left the room, Victoria perched on his shoulder.

They made their way outside before Ironhide looked over to the redhead "You really do need to stop turnin' away help. Ratch is a bit strict, but he's only like that cause he's worried bout you, and he ain't the only one." he said as they made their way across the grounds.

Victoria gave a small sigh 'I know, but I just can't be cooped up. I'll be fine.' she signed.

"You were coughin' up blood when I saw you, I don't think I'd call that fine."

'I'm alright now, the pain is gone.'

"And what if it happens again?"

'Well, you'll be near, won't you?'

"Yea, but I don't know much bout medical stuff."

'It's not like Ratchet has ever dealt with this situation before, he said so himself, we don't know what can happen.'

"That's what's got me worried."

'It has me worried too, but I can't live afraid of it. If I hide from the world because of this, who knows what I might miss.'

Ironhide gave a sigh at that, shaking his head slightly. "I got to admit, for a human, you got a slaggin' lot of determination."

Vic just smiled at that 'Really? And here I thought I was just stubborn.' she signed with a small smirk before continuing 'I know this may not be the best time, but you remember that place I showed you? Where I normally go when I go for my rides?'

Ironhide nodded at the question "You wanna make a trip there, don't you?" he asked, raising an optic ridge "Under one condition, you're not takin' your bike."

'Why not?' she signed, looking like she was about to fuss.

"Just, with how you were coughin' earlier, let me drive this time." he said, moving to lift her from his shoulder.

Vic gave a small nod 'I'll let you, today at least.' she signed before climbing onto his hand so he could lower her to the ground, she took a few steps back as he transformed into his topkick form and opened the door for her. She got in and closed the door.

"Do I really have to remind you?" Ironhide asked her, she just looked at the emblem in the steering wheel and raised an eyebrow. "Fine, be stubborn." he said as the seatbelt moved over her of it's own accord, she just crossed her arms over her chest and shook her head at him before they pulled off.

* * *

It was getting a bit late, but she didn't really care right now, there had been no other issues with her throat since the morning so that wasn't a concern. The little hidden beach was peaceful and she had a decent conversation buddy. She had been sitting on the rock she normally used for a seat, etching at it once more with a small pocket knife she kept, after a while she looked over to where Ironhide was relaxing against one of the rock faces that sheltered the small beach, he looked as if he was thinking, his gaze angled slightly downwards and optics dimmed a bit. She moved from her rock and made her way towards him, the mech looked up when she got closer and gave something which looked like a small smile.

'Is everything alright Ironhide?' she signed, tilting her head slightly.

Her guardian nodded in response "Just thinkin'."

'Would I be prying if I asked about what?'

"Just the whole situation, you havin' a piece of the Allspark in your throat, what it might be doin' to you, the decepticons getting' their slaggin' hands on supplies, I hate not knowin' what they might be up to."

'That has been on my mind as well. If only we knew what kinds of supplies they've been gathering from their attacks.'

"No way of tellin', they don't leave much of the ships behind to inspect."

'Not surprising. I still can't believe Barricade tried to get me to hand over the Allspark fragment, not like I would, even if I was able to.'

"I still wish you woulda let me know you were gonna go for a ride, but least Sideswipe kept his word and went with you."

'Yes, sorry about that, but with what had happened. . .'

"I know, it's how you deal with stuff. How've you been copin' with that by the way?"

'I'm making it, it's still not easy but, well, I have to keep going, there is no other choice.'

"Figured you were gonna say somethin' like that."

'And that's supposed to mean?'

"I know you put on an act, I've seen it, how you act like not a slaggin' thing bothers you, you think I didn't notice?"

'What makes you think that exactly?'

"Your eyes Vic, no matter how much you try and act like things don't bother you, your eyes give it away."

The redhead paused at that, giving a small sigh. Was it really that obvious? Did she really let her emotions slip that much to the point where he was able to notice them just by seeing her eyes? If they betrayed that then did they also betray more of her secrets? She hadn't even realized her gaze was lowering to the ground as she thought until Ironhide had knelt down, a large metal finger was brought under her chin as he gently lifted her head so he could see her face. Blue optics locked onto hazel eyes for a moment before her gaze averted away from his.

"Look at me, Victoria Marcus." he said, his tone soft despite his gruff voice. She brought her gaze back to his at that, though she had to fight not to look away. "You don't have to put on an act, you don't need to act like you don't need anyone's help. I'm here to protect you, and I'm gonna keep you safe, you have a fighter's spirit, but even the strongest warriors need to be protected sometimes." he said as he finally withdrew his finger from under her chin, but he remained kneeling.

Victoria shook her head a bit, still looking to him, she paused for a slight moment before bringing her hands up to sign once more 'It's not all an act, it's that, for so long, I had no other choice, independence is all I know now, I stand on my own, that's just how it is, how I've had to be.'

"Don't give me that, everyone needs help sometimes."

'And would you admit if you needed someone to protect you?' She signed, there was a long pause after that question as Ironhide pulled his gaze away from hers.

After a moment the mech sighed "Maybe." was all he said, still looking away slightly.

"Maybe. . . .that's why. . . . .we. . . .get along. . . .not so. . . .different." she forced out the painful whisper, grimacing slightly from the pain that shot through her throat as she brought a hand up to rub her neck a bit. Ironhide looked back at her having heard her low whisper.

"You shouldn't try to whisper Vic, I know it hurts you, you told me that."

'Some things can't be left to sign.' she responded, returning to her sign language to spare herself the pain.

"Still, don't make sense you causin' yourself pain like that."

'What's a little more pain compared to what I've already been through?'

"Why cause more? 'Specially with what that fragment did earlier."

'I can't just be scared of it Ironhide.'

"No, but why push your luck?"

Vic just raised an eyebrow at him for a moment, she would expect he would have already known the answer to that, after all it have been near a month that her had known her now, and with all the time they had spent together one would think he would know her habits by now, so instead of answering she just signed 'That's a rhetorical question and you know it.'

"How is it a rhetorical question?"

'When have you known me not to push my luck?'

"I know, the whole livin' the life you want thing, but you gotta be careful sometimes. This ain't like any other situation you've been in."

'You think I don't know that? I have decepticons after my throat, literally, a fragment from some powerful artifact capable of doing hell knows what to me in my throat, my best fucking friend is dead because of me and who knows what else is going to happen. Trust me, I realize how serious this shit is.'

Ironhide leaned down a bit, getting eyelevel with her for a moment and just looking at her before speaking "Then why do you act like it's nothin'?"

'Because I'm no good to anyone if I let it tear me apart.'

"Vic, all you need to do for anyone is survive. That is all anyone expects of you."

'That may be all they expect, but I expect more from myself.'

Ironhide shook his head before right out grabbing the redhead from the ground, taking her in his hand, he didn't squeeze too hard or anything, just held her firmly in his grasp and lifted her up slightly "That's how easy it is for them Vic, you're small, you wouldn't stand a chance, all you need to do is survive, it's all you can do."

Victoria looked right at her guardian as he did this, she narrowed her eyes slightly 'I trust you Ironhide. You're the only one still alive who has that trust. For you it's simple to pick me up and lift me, because I didn't even move to avoid it. I know you wouldn't hurt me.' she signed before lowering her arms, placing her hands on the edge of his which was gripping her at this time.

Ironhide shook his head at her "There's not much you could really do Vic, if one of them grabbed you like this, you would be helpless."

'I refuse to accept that.'

"I know you got the disruptor, but all it takes is them gettin' their hands on you before you can use it."

'Then I'll just have to make sure that doesn't happen.'

"And if it does?"

'Like I mentioned before, I trust you. I know you'll do what you can to avoid them getting to me.'

"You better believe they ain't gonna get their hands on you if I got anything to say bout it."

'That's what I was hoping to hear. Just don't get yourself too damaged in the process.'

"If it happens, it happens, Ratch might fuss but he can handle repairin' me."

'I kind of feel bad about always stressing Ratchet out, I give him too much trouble, don't I?'

"He's normally like that Vic, you get use to it."

'So, are you planning on holding me like this all night, or are you going to let me get my feet back on the ground at some point?'

Ironhide gave a small, amused looking smirk as he lowered her to the ground once more "Happy now?"

'Want an honest answer?'

"What do you mean by that?"

'Nothing, don't worry about it.' She signed before turning to return to the rock she was sitting on before, only to have Ironhide's hand block her path, she turned back to him, crossing her arms over her chest and raising an eyebrow at him.

"There's somethin' on your mind, isn't there? Besides everything that's been happenin' I mean."

'When isn't there something on my mind?'

"You're not gonna answer me, are you?"

'Not yet, maybe I'll be able to once I figure it out for myself.'

"I won't force you then." Ironhide stated before moving his hand once more, the redhead just lowered her gaze to the ground a moment with a heavy sigh.

~I don't know what I feel anymore, I use to be able to stand on my own through anything, but now I'm so weak, so useless. Everything I knew, everything I thought I understood, all I was capable of seems so small compared to what I'm facing now. No, I can't start thinking like that, I can't let this situation overwhelm me, I will not let my fire be extinguished so easy. I will push on, I have to, I don't have a damned choice in the matter. But . . .I can't do it alone anymore.~ she thought, her gaze drifting to where the waves were breaking on the rocks. She just shook her head before looking back to her guardian 'Ironhide, have you ever come to a point in life when you realize everything you thought mattered meant nothing?'

Ironhide tilted his head a little at the question. "What would make you ask somethin' like that Vic?"

'Just thinking.'

"About?"

'How much everything I knew has changed.'

"Those kinda things happen in war."

'Yes, I know that now, I just never expected to end up in the middle of a war.'

"Does anyone really expect to end up in a war?"

'You have a point there, it just leaves me trying to figure out what to do now.'

"Stay alive would be my suggestion."

'Yes, I get it, I need to be careful and make sure I don't get myself killed, but it's not that simple.'

"Life ain't simple."

'You don't have to tell me that Ironhide, I of all people am aware of that fact.' she signed before just shaking her head and looking over towards the ocean once more. 'Sorry if I'm difficult to put up with sometimes, I'm just so use to solitude, not that I mind your company of course.'

"You're not alone now Vic, we don't just care about you because of that slaggin' fragment, so don't even let that thought cross your mind. You're a friend now."

The redhead turned back to her guardian at that, giving a small half smile as she signed 'I know Ironhide, it's just not easy to get use to is all. Sara had been my only friend for years until I met you and the others.'

Ironhide moved to lift her from the ground as he took a seat and leaned up against the rock face sheltering the beach before bringing her to his shoulder where she soon settled "Gotta say, that little accident you had when you first met Ratch was one odd coincidence."

'I know, that still makes me wonder just what the fuck the chances of that were.'

"Don't know, but it was for the best."

'Yes, otherwise the decepticons may have found me first, and we both know how that would have turned out.'

"Not just that, if Ratch hadn't hit you, never woulda got the chance to get to know you."

'Oh is that all, don't know, would think I cause more trouble than I'm worth.' Vic signed with a smirk before she saw Ironhide smirking himself.

"Cmon, you're not that much trouble."

'Ratchet seems to think so, he did want to lock me up in the med bay after all.'

"He just wants to make sure you're alright, if I didn't know it'd drive you crazy, I woulda insisted on you stayin' there too."

'Well then, I guess it's a good thing I have a temper and make it known that I can't be locked up.'

"Maybe. You're not tired yet? It is gettin' late."

'It's been late, I've just been enjoying the conversation.'

"We can come back out here tomorrow if you want, lets get back to base."

At that Ironhide lifted her from his shoulder, placing her back on the ground before transforming into his alt mode for her to climb in, the seatbelt sliding over her without her even touching it, she had noticed that had become a slightly more common occurrence, likely from him getting tired of arguing with her about it. Soon they were on their way back to base as exhaustion finally started to set in for the redhead.

* * *

The month had seemed to of flown by, The Lennox family and Epps had departed after their week long visit, she hadn't had any more nightmares or issues with coughing up blood since the allspark fragment had woken her earlier in the month, an occurrence they didn't tell their visitors about, she had taken to wearing a thick choker to hide the glyph for the time being, surprisingly Ratchet had even agreed it may be best to let only the autobots know of the development, worrying that additional stress may trigger another occurrence.

Victoria had managed to get onto one of the rooftops, due to quite a bit of creative climbing since she couldn't convince any of the taller autobots to just help her up there. So there she sat, a lollipop in her mouth, since Ironhide had kept true to his word and destroyed any pack of cigarettes he saw in her possession she had taken to the lollipops to help her occupy her hands while she got over the habit of smoking. She currently had her sketchbook opened in her lap, she had been working on her Halloween costume design, Sam and Mikaela had invited her to a costume party they were attending, and though parties normally were not her scene she figure it would be a nice distraction. Ironhide was of course going to be her transportation there, and Bumblebee would be accompanying Sam an Mikaela so it's not like she would be unguarded. She had decided on an amazon warrior costume, something simple to make, not frilly or girly, and, well, to be blunt she had the height for it. It was only a couple of days until the party and she had already sketched out the design, part of it had already been made and was sitting in her makeshift room.

She gave a small sigh as she added a little detail to the sketch she was working on, mostly noting alterations and accessory items when she heard a loud, ground shaking impact on the ground below, she moved her sketchbook aside to look over the edge of the roof only to see the twins were at it again. She couldn't help but shake her head as she saw them tumbling over each other as they fought ~How do they not turn each other into scrap piles is beyond me.~ she thought as Mudslip made contact with the wall of the building she was sitting on, shaking the structure a bit. ~OK, that's it.~ she thought before looking around on the roof for anything she could throw at them, seeing a decent sized fallen branch on the roof. She picked it up, it only weighed about five pounds, before chunking it off the roof at Skidz, her aim was pretty good it seemed as it caught him right on the head.

Skidz and Mudflap looked up from where the offensive branch came from only to see the redhead standing there with her hands on her hips and glaring at them.

"Why yo throwin' stuff at me man, that ain't cool!" Skidz shouted up to her, this just prompted an eye roll from the redhead.

"Man, she dun got ya good, right on da head." Mudflap added in only to get shoved by his twin.

"Shudup!" the green twin said before looking up to Victoria once more "How ya got up dere?" he asked seeing as she was on a 30 foot rooftop right now.

'I climbed a bit, will you two watch where you're throwing each other? You shook the building.' she signed to them.

Skidz then looked at his brother a moment "Yo man, ya fat aft shook tha buildin'!"

"Dun you be callin' me fat, an' what you sayin'? You the one who threw me!" Mudflap shot back with.

Victoria just sighed before giving a loud, shrill whistle and grabbing both of their attention so she could sign 'Look, I'm trying to have a bit of peace up here, can you take your little fight someplace else?'

"Why don't ya come down an' hang wit us? Ya a'ways busy wit somethin' or spendin' time wit Ironhide, ya'll got a thing goin' or somethin'?" Skidz blurted out, this earning him a glare from the redhead.

'Don't make me throw something else at you.' she signed before shaking her head 'I'll be down in a moment.' and with that she turned from the edge of the roof, grabbing her sketchpad before making her way to the pipe that ran down the side of the building, the one she had used to get up here. She tossed her sketchpad down ahead of her before lowering herself from the roof and grabbing onto the pipe, the twins had made their way to that wall now, likely curious about just how she had gotten up there. She just started climbing right down the pipe.

"Whoa, be careful now Vic." Mudflap said from below, she glanced down and nodded before making her way down, once she was on the ground she picked up her sketchpad before discarding her lollipop, which was just a stick by now, and looking at the twins.

Victoria smirked slightly, looking over to Skidz and motioning for him to lean down closer, which he did, only for her to move to smack him in the head with her sketchpad before signing 'Don't make comments like that again, got it?'

"Yo man, what I do?" the green bot protested after being smacked with a sketchpad, it couldn't have hurt him of course, but she did just smack him, some reaction was bound to occur.

'We don't have anything going on, got that straight?' she signed before sighing, shaking her head a bit.

"I didn' mean nothin' by it, jus' pickin' on ya. Why you gotta get all mean bout it?" Skidz asked the redhead, she just shook her head.

'I'm going work on my costume, not in the mood for this.' she signed before turning to walk away.

"Yea, run 'way when ya can't answer somethin', ya do that a lot." Mudflap spoke up, causing the redhead to pause for a moment before she looked to the ground, smirking slightly as she saw a decent sized rock, she bent over and picked it up before turning to face Mudflap.

'Care to say that again? I'll aim right for your face.' she signed as she gripped the possible projectile she had picked up.

"Ain't no reason ta get violent." Skidz said seeing her reaction "We jus' askin'."

'No, you're prying where you have no business prying.' She signed, not letting go of that rock.

"Somethin' gotta be goin' on for us to be pryin'" Skidz said, making Vic sigh.

She shook her head at that 'There is nothing going on, I assure you.' she signed.

"Yet ya mean, we ain't blind, we can see how much ya always tryin' to spend time with him" Mudflap stated.

'We're friends.' she signed her response before tossing the rock to the side.

"You an' Sides are friends too, don' see ya spendin' that much time wit him." the orange twin replied.

'Sideswipe also isn't my guardian.' she signed.

"Yo man, whateva, if you ain't gonna admit it dat's on you. We won't say nothin'." Skidz stated.

'There's nothing to admit.' she signed before walking off and making her way back to the warehouse she was staying in. She had never expected the twins to say something like that, after all, there was nothing to admit, she and the weapons specialist were friends, he was her guardian, she had every reason to spend so much time with him, she enjoyed talking to him, even their little arguments were sometimes enjoyable, but what they were hinting at, it was crazy. Culture differences alone were a huge hurtle, and their size differences, just thinking about how odd that would be, not to mention awkward, then there was a major age difference, sure, she was an adult, above legal drinking age for certain, but he was millennia's older than she was, the very idea was absurd,. Right?

The redhead shook her head at the thoughts ~It would be imposable, besides, there's more important things to focus on right now.~ she thought as she made her way back into the warehouse, where Ironhide was sitting working on one of his weapons.

* * *

The redhead had finished working on her costume for the party and had taken to watching Ironhide working on a weapon. She couldn't help but be curious about what he was working on, after all, she always liked swords, guns were up on her list of interesting things as well even if she didn't have too much experience with them, not to mention with the power this weapons held, of course it got her attention. Ironhide had asked her to stay at his side, just in case a piece got out of his hands so she wouldn't need to dodge a chunk of metal, she had listened, after all, she could see what he was working on decently from here anyways.

The item he was currently working on looked like some kind of very large cannon, but she hadn't asked him about it, she didn't want to interfere with his focus on his work. She leaned a small bit to get a better look at it, Ironhide must have seen her movement for he soon spoke up.

"You don't have to worry bout parts bein' flung now, I got them secured." he said, Victoria gave a small nod at that and moved a bit closer to see just what it was. "There's no power to it yet, so you ain't gotta worry bout it goin' off or anything." he said.

Vic looked over to him and gave a small nod 'I would ask what it is, but something tells me I wouldn't understand.' she signed.

"It's nothin' too complex, just a plasma cannon." he answered her before she looked back at the weapon.

'Nothing too complex for you maybe, have to remember, I don't know much about guns, just melee weapons.' she signed as she started to inspect the weapon, for something so large it was also so intricate, all the parts, the wiring which still hadn't been put in it's housing, it was far more complex than any weapon she had any experience with, then again she could say the same about Ironhide's arm mounted cannons or any of the autobot's weapons for that matter, about the only autobot weapons she mostly understood were Sideswipe's swords.

"True, you keep swords, I keep forgettin' bout that. Almost tempted to make you an energon blade." Ironhide said, Vic just looked to him with a small smirk.

'Optimus would never allow it, you know that, with how he is about sharing technology with humans.' she signed as she walked back away from the cannon so Ironhide could keep working on the weapon.

"Yea, I know, he's already lettin' you use that sensor disruptor, askin' bout an actual weapon would be pushin' it." the black mech said as he went back to working on the cannon, setting the wires in the housing he had attached as the redhead watched "Unless somethin' happened where you needed a normal weapon, but that ain't likely, you got me as your guardian after all."

'Yes, and goodness knows you've got enough weapons on you to put some militaries to shame." she signed, this got a slight chuckle from the mech before she continued 'You know, I would like to get a few of my weapons from home, my sais for one, and my three sectioned staff, have to have something to keep me busy.'

"I'm borin' you that much?" Ironhide asked, raising an optic ridge at her, she could tell there was jest in his voice, even if the undertone was slight.

'Now you know better than that, I just don't want my skills to get rusty. You do know I have a bit of martial arts training right? Not like it really matters in this situation, but it's still something I don't want to get sloppy on.' she signed, moving to lean against her guardian's knee since he had been sitting while working on the weapon.

"You had mentioned it before, once I think. If you wanna get some of your swords, I don't mind goin' with you to get 'em." he said as he finished up on the weapon, or at least it looked like he had, Victoria couldn't really tell, she really did know very little about guns beyond firing some of them.

'Not now of course, no real rush, besides, I don't mind watching you work on the cannon, it's interesting, even if I know little about it.'

"Wish I could teach you, but you know Optimus wouldn't be too happy bout that."

'I know, and I understand, I'm only human after all.'

"Don't be like that."

'Like what? I'm not upset about it, I can understand the reasons, humans can be violent, dangerous, crazy beings and I know it. It's why I'm normally so anti-social.'

"You don't seem anti-social around here."

'Well besides the twins annoying me, which isn't that bad in all truth, none of you have given me a reason to be withdrawn here.'

"You have to have normal human interaction too you know."

'Ironhide, I haven't had normal human interaction since I lost my voice. It's like being a stranger stuck on the wrong side of a one way mirror, I can see them, hear them, watch people go about their normal lives, but without them being able to hear me, I just get overlooked.'

"I don't see how anyone can overlook you, with how you act."

'Why do you think I'm so bold? I had to make my presence known somehow.'

"Is that why you took to us so well? Cause we can actually understand you?"

'One of the reasons, before very few could speak with me, sure I could write responses, but that was limiting. Now, it's almost like I found a secondary voice.'

"Your sign language is your voice to us."

'It's not the same, but it works.'

"I have wonder whatcha sounded like before, I've heard you whisper, even though you shouldn't strain your throat like that, but I'd be lyin' if I said I wasn't curious what your voice sounded like."

'I had an accent, let's just say you could tell I was from Texas, the whole southern drawl thing, don't really know how to put it into detail, I never thought much about my voice until I lost it.'

"Maybe you'll get it back one day."

'Impossible, I'm missing half of one of my vocal cords, there is no repairing that kind of damage, at least not for humans.'

"I guess you got a point, then again, some things I thought were impossible have happened."

'Like?'

"A lot."

'Well that's really specific.'

"Well, I never thought I'd meet a human with a piece of the Allspark in 'er neck and a cybertronian glyph showin' up cause of it. Speakin' of, that's not given you any more trouble, has it?"

'No, I'm just wearing the choker to hide the glyph, to avoid questions from anyone outside the base who might see it when I go out. I guess you have a point though, I would have said all this was impossible if someone had mentioned the idea to me six months ago.'

"Exactly, you never know what might happen."

'But I know better than to get my hopes up. Just have to see what happens sometimes and enjoy the ride.' she signed, looking to him as he leaning in to mess with something on the cannon once more. Victoria went back to observing his work, sure, she didn't understand what he was doing, but it was interesting, so she just watched, she watched and thought.

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

_OK, I'm happy, I managed to get this one to 10k words, long as I hit that mark I won't gripe bout a chapter bein' short._

_So, I know one of my reviewers called it, yea, Vic got her eye on Ironhide, but, bold as she is, she's too stubborn to say anything, and so the first real subplot reveals itself, oh, and she finally threw something at one of the twins, she doesn't dislike them or anything, she just has a really short temper._

_Not really much of an action chapter, but I hope you can forgive me seeing as how more information is shown here, hopefully it'll all make just a little more sense, don't worry, things will fall into place, can't have them find out everything at once, now can I?_

_Also, I wanna say thanks to one of my friends, Leathurkatt, for helping me with the glyph meaning, I knew what I wanted it to convey, but I couldn't place a suiting word to it for the life of me, she helped me get the right word in there so wanted to give her a little shout out for it. Thank you hun!_

_Anyways, I do hope this chapter was enjoyable for ya'll, I'll have the next up within two weeks tops, though seeing how I keep writing, it may be sooner. Till next time ya'll!_


	6. Persevere?

Why had she decided to come to this costume party again? Oh, right, Sam and Mikaela invited her and it was supposed to be a distraction, so far all it had managed to do was make the redhead feel even more left out. The music was good, they had refreshments but she wasn't about to trust that punch bowl, she knew better than to drink anything that hadn't come out of a freshly opened can or bottle at parties. She just leaned against a nearby wall and watched, so many people were dancing, she could see Sam and Mikaela on the dance floor, Mikaela's costume was actually rather nice, it looked something like a modern fairy outfit, as for Sam's, well, Victoria still hadn't figured out just what he was supposed to be, all she knew was that he had latex guts wrapped around him and looked like he had dived into a pool of fake blood. As for her own costume, she was starting to feel just a little self conscience about it by this point, it looked great, a black leather warrior style skirt that came down to her mid thigh, leather lace up sandals, a short, black suede halter-top which she had fashioned some metal and leather adornments onto, at her neck was a thick metal mesh choker which hid the glyph on her neck and on her upper arms and wrists she had tied leather lace adored with metal beads in some places, just to accent the costume a bit, she had also opted to wear her contacts tonight, simply because she didn't feel like her glasses getting knocked off. As good as it looked on her it also showed more skin than she was use to, meaning it also showed just how scarred she was, sure it was nothing morbid but it was far from attractive even though Sam and Mikaela had insisted that it made the costume suit her even more.

Ironhide and Bumblebee had even decided to come inside, using their holoforms of course. Bumblebee was currently dancing about, just having fun since the party had been open invite while Ironhide was currently sitting at one of the tables set out watching everyone else dancing. The redhead looked out onto the dance floor just in time to see Bumblebee coming up to her, he was smiling, it was obvious he had been having fun even if he was interacting using a holoform. He motioned to her to come dance but the redhead just gave a small smile, shaking her head at the offer.

'Come on, have fun.' Bumblebee signed to her, not even waiting for a response before grabbing onto her wrist and starting to tug her towards the dance floor.

The redhead just rolled her eyes at this 'Fine, if it'll make you happy.' she signed the best she could while being near dragged to the dance floor, Sam and Mikaela had seen the sight and started laughing a bit as Vic shot them a glance that just said help me.

The music changed to a high tempo remix of some song the redhead couldn't exactly identify, but then she saw Bumblebee start dancing, he was so out of rhythm, but she could tell he was trying, she smiled before shrugging and joining in, for a woman of her height she could move those long legs fast, her body moving to the high energy beat, she managed to keep up with the rhythm rather well she wasn't perfect but no one really was, she was mostly using shuffle steps she knew to make it look at least somewhat decent, long red hair just flying about when she spun or tossed her head the right way. She wouldn't have admitted it before but now that she had been dragged onto the dance floor, she was actually enjoying herself, Bumblebee had started mimicking some of her shuffle steps and was looking a bit more in rhythm now, though he hadn't tried to mimic any of her hip movements, thankfully. 'You're getting it.' she signed to him without missing a step. They continued dancing, Victoria didn't even care that she had a few eyes on her by this point, after all, it's not like anyone would take interest in her with how scarred up she was so she wasn't worried about that, and she knew nothing was showing when her skirt flew up from her movements, she had thought ahead and was wearing biking shorts under it just in case because she did not trust shorter skirts that much.

She swayed to the beat, her movements weren't sharp and jerky like many of the girls there but each move flowed quickly and smoothly into the next, soon the song came to an end and she couldn't help but give a silent laugh as Sam and Mikaela came up to where Vic and Bumblebee had been dancing, Sam jokingly gave the redhead's shoulder a small push.

"About time you stopped standing against that wall over there!" he said before the redhead gave him a slightly harder, but still friendly, shove at the shoulder. Mikaela just laughed.

"See, aren't you glad you came now?" the brunette asked, Victoria just nodded as the next song started coming on, but when she heard what it was, she just paused before slowly face palming as Caramelldansen came over the speakers.

'We got to.' she signed, Sam just blinked and she looked over to Mikaela, wondering if she caught what the redhead just signed, the brunette seemed to think for a moment before nodding.

"Yea, just for the laughs." she finally said, Victoria guessed it just too her a moment to remember the signs, but hey, she was understood, that's all that mattered. Mikaela looked over to a puzzled Sam "She said we should do the caramell dancing." she explained before Sam busted out laughing.

"Alright, but only if you do it too, deal?" Sam said and Vic just nodded before, right where she was standing, she started to do the caramelldansen dance, glancing about on the dance floor to see she wasn't the only one who had that idea as it seemed half were doing it too, and the other half were laughing like mad. Sam and Mikaela lined up with her and joined in, after a few moments a grinning Bumblebee also joined in, as they did the ridiculous dance they were fighting themselves not to laugh at just how silly they were being.

Vic chanced a glance to her guardian just to see he had his hand over his face at their antics, he was shaking his head and looked like he was trying his best not to laugh at them. The redhead smirked a bit before tapping Bumblebee and Mikaela on their shoulders and pointing to Ironhide, both of them seemed to get exactly what she was hinting, Sam too seemed to pick up on it seeing the other three. They turned and started to move right towards Ironhide's holoform, he saw them coming and before they even got to him was shaking his head at them.

"No, before you even suggest it, no." he said as they got closer.

"Come on Ironhide, you've been sitting there all night." Mikaela tried to convince him.

"I am not doin' that dance. You gotta be glitched." Ironhide said, pointing at the brunette.

"Victoria and 'Bee even did it, are you just going to sit there through the whole party?" Sam asked.

"I'm plannin' on sittin' right here, I ain't doin' that dance." Ironhide responded.

"So you're not even going to dance once?" Mikaela spoke up once more.

"I sure as the pit ain't doin' that dance." Ironhide stated, crossing his arms over his chest.

Bumblebee looked over to Victoria, laughing a small bit 'I don't think they're going to convince him.' he signed to her.

'Me either, but I figured it couldn't hurt to try.' she signed back before looking over to Ironhide, he was looking right at her.

"This was your idea then?" he asked, pointing right at the redhead, who just smirked.

'Yes, it was, I got pulled onto the dance floor, you're going to too.' she signed before being bold, reaching to grab onto his arm and start trying to tug him out of the chair, Sam, Mikaela and Bumblebee, much to her surprise, also joined in, after a little struggling they finally got him out of the chair he had been occupying for most of the night, holoforms were strong, so it took them some effort, thankfully Bumblebee's holoform also had some strength to it which helped greatly in removing the weapons specialist's holoform from that chair. Once he was standing he just recrossed his arms over his chest.

"I ain't dancin' to that." Ironhide stated.

'Well, what about to something else once this song's over, you're going to end up with your holoform attached to that seat if you stay there all night.' she signed.

"I ain't dancin'." he said, leaning forward a bit to look right at her, trying to make his point.

'Yes, you are.' she signed before looking over to the other three and just grinning, they all grinned right back before, almost at once, they moved to start pushing Ironhide onto the dance floor despite his protests, luckily for the weapons specialist caramelldansen was finishing so he was avoiding that one at least but she sure as hell wasn't about to let him just sit there all night.

The next song that started was a bit less silly, though it still had a rather decent rhythm to it, it took a moment but Victoria was able to identify it after a moment and a small smirk came across her lips, it was Angel of Darkness, a song she liked a bit, a song she knew.

"I told you I ain't dancin'!" Ironhide protested once more.

'What? Scared you won't be able to keep up?' the redhead signed once he looked to her, that smirk still on her lips.

"I can keep up." Ironhide responded with, the redhead just raised an eyebrow at him.

'You sure about that? If you don't want to embarrass yourself then I understand. Just go sit back down and leave the dancing to those who. . .' her eyes widened a bit as Ironhide grabbed onto her arm mid sign and pulled her towards him.

"I can keep up." he repeated before, next thing the redhead knew she was at arms length on the other side of him, his hand firmly grasped around her wrist, her body at a slight angle from the move but she still had her footing, he pulled her back to him, she spun from the motion before coming to face him, his other hand catching hers. Sam, Mikaela and Bumblebee had stepped back at this point, as had some of the other dancers as Ironhide and the redhead began to actually dance, quick but sweeping motions in tune with the rhythm as they took over that small section of the dance floor, he was actually rather good at this as the steps of their dance kept sending her at arms length and back to him, he swung her back, she leaned into it to the point her hair skimmed the floor before being pulled back, spinning so her back was to him as she came to stand in front of him once more, he wrapped one arm around her a moment gripping the opposing hand before sending her spinning from him to arm's length at his side.

"~You can't hide from the eternal light, until my last breath I will fight~" as the song continued on so did they, having gotten in pace with each other at this point, their motions complimenting the other's, Ironhide's movements held precise skill but yet they suited, Victoria's balance and flexibility helped her to react to each movement and add her own flare to the dance "~Don't follow your command, but I will fight and I will stand.~" at that he pulled her to him from the last swing, tossing her up slightly much to her surprise before catching her by the waist, she would have almost swore she saw a grin before he spun her only slightly and slipped his arm behind her back so her back was draped over his arm, his hand had come to her wrist, it was more or less a stylish version of a dip they finished the song off with before he helped her stand upright once more, she just looked at him with a smirk as she stepped back so she had room to sign.

'See, I knew we would get you to dance.' she signed, that smirk turning into a smile.

"Yea, I realized you were provokin' me into it when it was a little too late." he said, raising an eyebrow at her.

'Well it worked, and you're a pretty good dancer to top it off.' she signed her response, and it was true, she was half expecting him to be a stiff dancer but he had proven her wrong there.

"I'm gonna go sit back down." Ironhide said before heading back to his previous seat, Vic just shook her head a bit as Bumblebee, Sam and Mikaela came up to her when the next song had started.

"Well, you got him to dance." Sam said, giving a small laugh as he rubbed the back of his head a little "Even if he did just sit back down afterwards."

The redhead gave a small shrug, there was a slight smile on her lips though, she hadn't exactly expected him to grab her and start dancing, but it was fun, and at least it had gotten him out that chair for a bit.

* * *

The party was still going though it was well pass midnight, Victoria had finally broken down and had a bit to drink, it wasn't much but she had a slight buzz, she was still fully aware however, certainly aware enough to stop Sam from drinking, he wasn't over 21 yet after all and she might not be a chaperone but she still intended to watch after her friends even if they were young adults. It had seemed that the later it got the more people had shown up, and currently, she was having the displeasure of dealing with a particularly dense young man who seemed to have the insane idea that the redhead was someone to try and flirt with, she figured he must have been very drunk to make that mistake.

"Why won't you talk to me babe? I don't bite, less you want me to." the annoying guy said, leaning closer to her once more only to get shoved back, he was invading her personal space after all and she intended to get it back.

She had given up signing to this guy, he had made it obvious he didn't understand sign language when he mistook it for dancing. Him having leaned in and spoken confirmed his drunkeness, she had smelled the beer on him.

"Cmon girl, say something, what you mute or something?" he said, this made the redhead look right at him, eyes narrowing as she gave a firm nod.

"Oh, so that means you can't scream if I do this!" he said before reaching right for her and grabbing one of her breasts, this got the drunk a rough shove, sending him stumbling onto the floor, thankfully this earned the attention of Ironhide, who made his way over as the drunk stood up and started towards Victoria once more.

Ironhide placed himself right between Vic and the drunk "Leave 'er alone, if her shovin' you away didn't get the message across." her guardian said as the drunk, obviously intoxicated beyond the point of common sense, actually stood up to Ironhide.

"And just who the fuck are you? This isn't your business man, let the bitch fight her own battles." the idiot said. Victoria's eyes narrowed at that offensive word, she never liked being called a bitch, she then saw Ironhide's holoform's fists ball at that before she put her hand on his shoulder and stepped forward.

'I'll handle this.' she signed to her guardian before glaring at the drunkard 'Ask him what he called me Ironhide, if you would be so kind.'

"She asked, what you just called 'er." Ironhide relayed the message.

"I called her a fucking bitch, what of it!" the moron said right before the redhead's hand came up, delivering a palm heel to his chin and knocking him back onto the floor, the drunk seemed dazed for a moment before he managed to right himself and came at her, Ironhide went to stop him but Victoria had already moved to perform a sidekick aimed with at the guy's midsection, causing him to double over before she moved to bring her elbow down hard on his upper back, knocking him to the ground, at this point Ironhide grabbed her, having to pull her back from beating the poor drunk until he was sober again.

"Vic, calm down." her guardian said as he pulled her a decent distance away from her target, others had rushed to the fallen drunk to make sure he was alright. Sam, Mikaela and Bumblebee also rushed forward seeing Ironhide pulling the struggling redhead away from the boy she wanted to tear into.

"What happened?" Sam asked as Bumblebee moved to help Ironhide calm the redhead down, Bumblebee grabbing onto her wrists and looking to her as Ironhide stopped her from pulling away.

"Not sure what started it, but I think she just finished it." Ironhide said before tightening his grip on her just slightly, not enough to hurt her but certainly enough to restrain her "Vic, calm down will you? You already got 'im!" he said as the redhead finally started to calm down, she had just been trying to pull away after all, it's not like she was in a complete rage.

Once she stopped trying to pull away Bumblebee and Ironhide let go of her before Mikaela spoke up "I think we should go, before something else happens." she said, the others agreed and the redhead just nodded before they made their way outside.

Once she and the holoform had gotten into Ironhide's alt form, which had been right outside, his holoform turned to her and asked the expected question. "So what happened?"

'He came onto me, when he figured out I was mute he grabbed my breast, I wasn't about to let that slide.' she signed as they pulled off.

"Explains why you shoved 'im, but why'd you go after him like that? I wasn't gonna let him attack you." he said, glancing to where some people were still lingering around the area, Victoria had guessed he hadn't deactivated his holoform because he didn't want to chance someone seeing it vanish.

'He called me a bitch, he had no right to, my friends saying it jokingly is one thing, but an asshole like that, he was begging to get decked.' she signed as she reached under the seat where she had left the disruptor, since her costume wouldn't hide the weapon, and moved to strap it back onto her thigh.

"I think you did more than just deck 'im." her guardian responded.

'So maybe it was overkill, he's just lucky you stopped me when you did.'

"You wouldn't have stopped if I hadn't, would you have?"

'Honestly? No, not until he was incapacitated.'

"Well, if he grabbed you he deserved it, still couldn't let you just go at 'im though."

'Because you know he wouldn't have been getting up on his own if you had let me.'

"Yea, I do. Why are you so aggressive anyways?"

'Just how I am Ironhide.'

"I know that, but I wanna know why, you ain't got a reason for it that I see."

'I have had to watch after myself since I was 16, no one to protect me, no family left, no one to stop the world from taking advantage of me, it was a case of learning to take care of myself or suffer, the second option didn't appeal to me.'

"At 16, you never mentioned that, aren't there programs your government has set up for orphans?"

'Yes, foster care, a living hell, I petitioned for emancipation once I was old enough and got it, been on my own since then.'

"Why didn't you say that before? I didn't know you were on your own so long."

'I didn't think it was that important, after all, it just means I got a head start at independence.'

"It was still young to be on your own."

'It was, but now that I've been through it, I couldn't see another way.'

There was silence a moment, once they were out of view of any prying eyes the holoform deactivated, the redhead gave a small sigh, watching the scenery go by the window for a while, the silence was bothering her, as odd as that might have seemed, after a while she looked forward once more, finally signing to him again. 'Besides the small fight, I enjoyed tonight, thanks for actually dancing.'

A slight humph came from Ironhide's speakers "You sure were determined to get me to dance, why was that?" he asked.

'You were sitting there all night, had to get you on the dance floor at least once, hell, I got dragged into dancing too, didn't think you were going to get away, did you?' she signed, giving a small smirk.

"Can't believe I let you trick me into it." he replied.

'If you realized I tricked you, then why did you keep going?' she signed her question, tilting her head a bit. There was silence for a good many seconds after that.

"Because I was enjoyin' it" Ironhide finally answered, this caused the slightest smile to sneak across the redhead's lips as she patted the dashboard before relaxing back in the passenger seat. Tonight had been a welcomed distraction from the recent stresses. Even if she did have to deck someone before the night had ended, but overall, she had enjoyed herself, even if the night brought up a few more unspoken questions.

* * *

The party was well behind them, she had decided that costume was never going to see the light of day again, it showed way to much. Ironhide had kept his word and she had been able to retrieve a few of her weapons from her home, well, maybe a few was putting it likely, she had just grabbed the entire chest full, it was easier than sorting through them all. She had decided to pull out her altered kusarigama, a chain weapon she had customized out of boredom, the chain was a good 15 feet in length and instead of a sickle at it's end there was a bladed, spiked disk which resembled an oversized throwing star.

She had put in her contacts so her glasses wouldn't be an issue and taken the weapon outside to have ample room, even though the warehouse was big she didn't want to chance the weapon slipping from her hand, unlikely as such was, and damaging something. So there she stood on the outskirts of the base, swinging the kusarigama about, she had her right hand holding the chain at a point where only about five feet of the weapon was actually being used, the rest of the chain was coiled and held in her left hand. Sideswipe, who had been curious of just what the redhead was up to, had followed her out and was standing at a decent distance watching her assault a poor tree she had decided to use for a practice target, she was slashing a decent amount of the bark from the pine's trunk, the bladed part of the weapon was sharp just as all of her weapons were.

"How long are you going to spend killing that tree?" Sideswipe asked after a while, the redhead tugged on the chain to dislodge the blade from the wood before looking to the silver autobot, positioning the chains in her grasp so she could sign.

'If it's boring you then you don't have to stay and watch you know.' she responded.

"It's not boring me, I just don't think the tree is giving you much of a challenge." he said.

'It's a tree, of course it's not, but it's a target.'

"A target that can't dodge."

'It's all I have.'

"Let's fix that." Sideswipe said with a smirk before transforming into his alt form and activating his holoform, Victoria just tilted her head at this.

'What are you doing?'

"Well, a spar might be fun, have to use my holoform though."

'Sideswipe, won't it hurt if the blade catches it right?'

"Nah, I disabled the pain sensors and weakened it a bit so it's an even match."

'Alright then, if you insist.' she signed before getting into stance, the kusarigama dangling from it's chain, which she had shorted for a bit.

"Alright, lets do this." Sideswipe said before running at her, this holoform's speed seemed to be that of a normal human, the redhead hadn't known they could weaken their holoforms but it seemed they could without too much issue. The redhead lowered her stance a bit, using her wrist to begin spinning the kusarigama at the end of it's chain, as the holoform got closer she swung it forward letting another three feet of chain slip through her hand as she arched it at the holoform, Sideswipe ducked as Vic brought the kusarigama full circle coming around for a second strike, the momentum increasing the weapon's speed, Sideswipe jumped over it drawing nearer to her, she tugged the chain in a bit using her left hand to shorten it as she brought it around once more to deliver a right to left diagonal slash, Sideswipe tried to dodge that one but his holoform got part of the blade across the chest, there was no sound of pain so she guessed the pain sensors really were off and kept going.

She kept using the momentum of the weapon, keeping the counterclockwise rotation as she brought it forth once again, and again, each arc of the bladed star on the end of the chain was faster than the last, using momentum to continue increasing strike speed, this weapon wasn't about strength but about technique, Sideswipe was narrowly avoiding some of them, many where making contact and it was forcing him to step back, for each step back he took the redhead gave the kusarigama a bit more length, it was swinging about in large, quick circles around her. Sideswipe jumped back suddenly and grabbed onto a bare, rather straight branch that was on the ground, he used it to block to bladed part of the weapon before Vic suddenly gave the chain a bit more length, the star at it's end wrapping around the branch and twining to lock it as she pulled back on the chain sharply, pulling the makeshift staff out of Sideswipe's hands, she caught the chain closer to the bladed disk once the staff was free of it and returned it to it's previous smaller spin at her side, this weapon worked best when kept in constant motion.

"OK, that weapon isn't any joke." Sideswipe said with a small chuckle, his holoform was undamaged, but she knew they didn't exactly take damage, they were hard light imagery after all.

The redhead grinned, giving a small nod before motioning with her left hand, which was still holding the excess chain, for him to come on. Sideswipe charged forth once more and again the redhead lashed out with the kusarigama, aiming low, she had no idea why he was trying to spar unarmed when she had a weapon, but seeing as he couldn't feel the hits she figured he was just having fun trying to dodge it. Sideswipe leapt over the lower strike before ducking the next, higher one, he was closing the gap faster now, having likely gotten the hang of avoiding that weapon, the redhead began to step back now, as he grew closer she began to swing the kusarigama in a quick, defensive figure eight, it alternating from swinging on her left then to her right, the X being made in front of her as she tried to widen the space between her and the incoming Sideswipe, once he did get close enough however she transitioned the kusarigama's movements back into a simple spin at her right side as she lashed out with a high aimed side kick with her left leg. Sideswipe parried with his forearm before aiming to grab her arm, she leapt back before slinging the kusarigama's blade straight for him, he brought up his arm to block it, the chain wrapping around it before the blade, due to it's speed, embedded in his arm, Sideswipe paused a moment and looked at it.

"Huh? Good thing I disabled the pain sensors." he said looking over the blade with a rather amused expression on his face, he actually poked where it was sticking out. Victoria couldn't help but give a soundless laugh.

'Be glad you did, that just looks painful.' she signed, the chain still in her grasps.

"No kidding! Damn this thing's sharp." Sideswipe said with a chuckle of his own as he pulled the bladed star out and unwrapped the chain from his arm letting the weapon fall so the redhead could take up the slack once more. The cut in the holoform's arm was gone almost instantly, he looked back at her "Want to keep going?" he asked, the redhead nodded before a voice grabbed both of their attention.

"Just what are you two doin'?" came Ironhide's voice, causing both Sideswipe's holoform and Vic to look over to him.

'Getting in a little practice with my kusarigama, he turned off his pain sensors so it's not hurting him.' the redhead signed, letting the chain drape over her wrists to free her hands.

"And if he managed to hit you?" Her guardian asked.

"Don't worry Ironhide, I weakened this holoform, it wouldn't be like anything worse than a human hitting her." the blonde holoform responded.

'He didn't even arm himself, for some reason.' Victoria added.

Ironhide sighed at this, looking over at Sideswipe's holoform before looking to the redhead, after a moment he looked over to Sideswipe's alt form "Turn off your holoform and transform Sideswipe, I wanna see somethin'." the black mech said. Victoria tilted her head a bit, looking confused for a moment.

Sideswipe looked a bit confused himself, but shrugged "Alright, but hope whatever you have in mind is worth ruining our fun." the blonde said before the holoform vanished and he transformed back into his robotic form. "So, what you have planned?" he asked, looking to Ironhide, Victoria just raised an eyebrow before looking to her guardian.

"Well, fightin' a holoform ain't gonna help her much, is it?" Ironhide said before looking to the redhead who had tilted her head at that statement "Don't tell me you're backin' down now, it ain't like you."

'Just unexpected is all.' she signed back, though Sideswipe looked rather surprised.

"Wait, did I just hear you right Ironhide?" the silver bot asked, seeming rather shocked at the suggestion.

"Yea, you did, just block and try to grab 'er alright? You hurt 'er and you'll have to deal with me." Ironhide stated, looking dead serious at Sideswipe.

'Is this you trying to prove to me that I don't stand a chance fighting cybertronians yet again?" Victoria signed before placing her hands at her hips, the chain falling back into her grasps.

"Go head Sideswipe." the weapons specialist said, not even answering the redhead's question, the silver bot nodded before moving towards Victoria, he kept his blades retracted and moved to try and grasp her, the redhead leapt to the side to avoid him, landing with a roll before righting herself and beginning to get the kusarigama up to speed once more before Sideswipe made another attempt to grab her, she swung the kusarigama at the incoming arm, releasing the full 15 feet of chain as it wrapped around his upper arm and twined, locking the hold, the redhead tugged on the chain as she leapt towards the incoming wrist and used the chain for support as she ran up his angled arm a bit before pushing off and using the chain to swing herself around to his back, grabbing onto Sideswipe's armor as she sent a wave motion through the chain, dislodging the kusarigama from his arm and tugging it up so she could drape it over her shoulder. The redhead held on as Sideswipe tried to reach back to get her off his back.

"Hey, that's not fair! I can't reach back there." the silver bot protested as Vic clung on, steadying her hand and foot holds to be sure she didn't fall off. "Since when were you so agile anyways?" he said, still trying to reach back to grab her as she flattened herself against his back armor to make it harder for him manage any kind of grasp on her.

Ironhide was watching, Vic would have signed to him but her hands were busy keeping her from falling, the redhead began to switch her weight to her left hand, getting a firm grip before grabbing the kusarigama that was draped over her shoulder and getting a little momentum spin going, once it was at a decent speed she slung it upwards, the weapon wrapping around Sideswipe's neck before she tightened her grasp on the chain and began making her way up his back, avoiding his hand when it made a grab for her. She imagined this must have made for a very entertaining sight. Vic managed to get onto Sideswipe's upper back before grabbing part of the chain that was wrapped around his neck and, with an end in each hand, careful of the blade to not cut herself, she planted a foot on the middle of the silver bot's back and pulled back on the chain. He abandoned trying to grab her to grab the chain from his neck, pulling forward on it and tugging Vic along with it a bit until she let go of the side of the chain bearing the bladed star and kicked off his back, swinging herself around by the chain once more, Sideswipe let go of the chain, allowing Vic to fall about ten feet and landing in a roll on the ground, it knocked the wind out of her but she hadn't fallen too hard thankfully and was able to stand after, bringing the kusarigama to spin once more, the weapon gaining momentum. Sideswipe began towards her once more before she swung the kusarigama again at full distance, aiming for the left tire that was his foot, the bladed star hit it and stuck into the thicker than normal rubber before she tugged back, a hiss of air coming from the tire once the blade was free of it as the tire quickly flattened, leaving the silver bot a bit unstable as he moved his weight to his other leg.

"That's enough." Ironhide spoke up, Victoria looked to her guardian as Sideswipe looked at his punctured tire.

"You gave me a flat tire Vic!" Sideswipe said sounding a little annoyed at the fact, but a little surprised she actually did it.

'Sorry, I saw it as a way of slowing you down.' she signed, Sideswipe just gave a bit of a dismissive wave as he sat down to tend to the tire, he didn't seem too worried about it. The redhead looked to her guardian at this point 'Happy now?' she signed before draping her kusarigama over her shoulder once more.

"Yea, I am actually, though gettin' on a decepticon's back like that wouldn't be as effective, they wouldn't have a second thought bout slammin' you against somethin'." the black mech said to her as he began towards her, kneeling down a little ways in front of her "But I will admit, I am a bit impressed."

This got a smile from the redhead 'Thanks.' she signed before looking towards Sideswipe, the silver bot had gotten his tired dealt with and was in the process of standing once more. 'You alright Sideswipe?' she signed.

"Yea, I'm fine, we recover fast Vic, don't worry about it. Next time, just don't go after my tires alright?" Sideswipe responded, giving a small chuckle "Was a good move though, will admit that." he added.

"Don't let this get your ego up Vic, a weapon like that ain't got much effect, even if it worked in a spar. Sideswipe wasn't aimin' to hurt you after all." Ironhide stated as he offered his hand for her to climb onto before lifting her to his shoulder.

'I know, but I hadn't planned on sparring Sideswipe, I was attacking a tree originally.' she signed once she had gotten her balance on the weapons specialist's shoulder.

"I activated my holoform so she had a challenge, and dodging that chain thing was kinda fun." the silver bot said giving a small shrug "You know Ironhide, you should see about making her an energon weapon, I know we're not supposed to share weapons with humans by Optimus's orders, but since she is a target, maybe he'll make an exception."

"I was lucky to get 'im to let 'er use the sensor disruptor, besides, an energon weapon would mean she gotta get close to 'em to use it, rather avoid that. Though makin' her an energon blade had been somethin' I considered, if I can get Optimus to agree to it." Ironhide said as he looked over to the redhead on his shoulder when he saw her start signing.

'I know you'd rather me not get too close to them, I understand why, but we do have to consider worst case scenario as well. I know you'll protect me and, as much as I hate to admit it I am thankful for that, but if something unexpected does happen, sure, I have the sensor disruptor, but it is possible I may end up in a situation where I can't run.' she signed, Ironhide nodded.

"I know that, if it was up to me then I wouldn't have a problem with it, but I gotta get Optimus's permission first. You know that." her guardian said.

'I know, I understand that, he has good reasons to be cautious about it. I have the disruptor, it seems to be doing pretty well so I won't complain.' she signed as she began to roll up the chain of her kusarigama so it would be easier to handle. Sideswipe and Ironhide spoke for a while before they parted and Ironhide headed back towards the warehouse she was using as a temporary home with her.

* * *

The motor of the gold wing roared, the music from the speakers of the bike loud enough to be clearly heard over the sound of the wind as she made her way across the open stretch, slightly behind the bike were the black topkick form of Ironhide and the yellow camero that was Bumblebee, Sam and Mikaela were sitting in the front seat, they had decided to join her today when she mentioned she was going out for a ride and while normally the redhead wouldn't have wanted so many tagalongs on this day she didn't really mind for once.

They were keeping pace pretty easily, having settled her speed at an even 120, the redhead was rather glad for just how long this stretch of land was and though she had no intention of stopping at her favored beach today, after all it was near noon so the sight of the sunset there wasn't tempting her to the secluded place, it was a nice ride. The redhead glanced back at those following with a small smirk as Highway to Hell came over her radio, she made a small motion with her left hand before turning forward once more and gripping the hand bars again.

"And here she goes." she heard Ironhide shout to the camero at his side as Vic picked up speed a bit more, velocity rising to 140 over the next few seconds, those behind her picking up speed to keep up though they let her pull ahead just slightly, since they had gone farther on this dirt stretch than normal they had agreed to let her lead since she knew the area so well, she did call it her domain for a reason after all.

The shouts from behind told her Sam was having the time of his life back there and Mikaela sounded like she was enjoying herself as well. They rounded a slight turn in the stretch before engines roared yet again, it was such a beautiful sound to the speed demon, though she couldn't help but smile at the other sound she could just barely hear over the motors, and that was the sound of Sam singing along with the radio, this got a silent chuckle from Victoria, she was glad they were having fun as well, goodness knows a bit of enjoyment was something everyone needed and she would guess Bumblebee was enjoying himself to, though he would be unable to vocalize it if he was but she had hoped her assumptions were correct. As for Ironhide, she figured he was either at least somewhat enjoying himself or was hiding his annoyance at the fact she dragged him out for another joyride, but it would do the mech some good she figured, after all he couldn't just stay at the base all the time, she knew she sure as hell couldn't.

They rode for quite some time, the redhead had been enjoying it greatly, she never thought that the sounds of those behind her would have made the trip even more enjoyable but it had proven to do just that but as the saying goes, all good things must come to an end. Soon the sounds of the three engines was joined by yet another roar, one from above. The redhead glanced up at the sound to see something she'd have rathered not seen on this day, an F-22 Raptor heading in their direction. ~Shit! One day, just one fucking ride and ya'll can't even back off for that!~ she thought as she glanced back to Sam and Mikaela seeing their reactions were rather similar.

"Vic, I know you got NoS on that bike, use it and get the hell away from here! Bumblebee, bring Sam and Mikaela and follow her, she knows the area!" Ironhide shouted as the sounds of transformation could be heard, Starscream had transformed mid air and came to land not too far in front of them, Victoria and Bumblebee swerved sharply to avoid him as Ironhide transformed and rammed him at high speeds, using the momentum from the ride to send his shoulder into Starscream's midsection at 140 miles an hour knocking the decepticon back a bit. "GO NOW!" the weapons specialist shouted as Victoria and Bumblebee avoided the fighting pair and begun to move away from the fight, Victoria looked back at the yellow camero and those within it, motioning for them to go ahead, before she quickly turned back towards where her guardian was holding off the decepticon despite the shouts from Sam and Mikaela.

One hand went to the disruptor holstered on her thigh as the other gripped the bike's hand bar tightly, it wasn't much but if she could impair Starscream's vision and hearing for just a bit she figured Ironhide could take him down much easier. The redhead made a pass on her bike, bringing the disruptor up to aim as her guardian assaulted the decepticon with his cannons, she saw Starscream bring his own weapon up aiming it right at Ironhide.

~I don't think so.~ She thought as a smirk crossed her lips and she fired the disruptor, the blast from it hit and Starscream reeled back blindly as Ironhide took the opening to unleash hell on the attacker, quick cannon fire burst forth from the weapons specialist's arm mounted cannons pelting the dorito chip of a decepticon as Vic reholstered her weapon, making as sharp of a turn as she safely could going at this speed, once she had turned and gotten up to full speed she activated the NoS system on her bike to be able to catch up with Bumblebee and get farther from the fight, she only hoped Ironhide could handle it from here since his opponent being blinded would give him quite the upper hand, even if the blindness was only temporary. She lowered herself to the bike as she came up on where Bumblebee was, he picked up speed as she approached so he could keep pace with her, once she was along side him she let off the NoS since more than ten seconds of the boost could blow an engine and her speed began to setting back at 150 as they made their way from the area, the redhead couldn't help but worry, Ironhide was back there, still fighting on his own, no doubt he would have called backup by now, assuming he wasn't being stubborn, but she hoped he wouldn't take too much damage.

"WATCH OUT!" Mikaela's shout drew her from her thoughts as an explosion rocked the ground not too far from them. They swerved to narrowly avoid the outskirts of the blast as the redhead looked to see it's source only to see a cybertronian she hadn't seen before, one that stood around Optimus's height with dark grey armor, at it's side was Barricade who she was able to notice right off.

She didn't have time to make any more observations as another blast headed their way, hitting in front of them, blocking their path. Victoria and Bumblebee swerved quickly to avoid it and while Bumblebee was able to handle the quick maneuver at this speed, the redhead's bike was not, she started going horizontal as she tried desperately to slow her speed and right herself before she was forced to bail out, the bike still going at least 60 as she hit the ground heavily in a roll, she heard bones crack though she was lucky her head didn't hit the ground in her roll. A sharp pain shot through her left shoulder as she heard another sickening snap bringing forth a pained hiss before she came to a stop, laying there for just a second. She could feel the pain in her ribs, in her shoulder as she looked to see where the decepticons were, they had begun to move towards them as she tried to right herself with her uninjured arm, doing her best to push the pain she felt with every movement from her mind, this was not the time to nurse an injury no matter how bad it was or how much it hurt.

Barricade was drawing nearer, almost on top of her before a blur of yellow came into view, plowing into the side of the decepticon as the sound of metal on metal contact filled the air. Bumblebee had just saved her rear, she would have to thank him later if they made it out of this situation. The redhead managed to get onto her feet, thankfully for her neither of her legs sustained injury from the bail out. She chanced a quick glance around, seeing Sam and Mikaela running for cover before running to follow, pulling the disruptor from it's holster once more with her good arm. She had only made it half way to them when she saw a large, gray metal hand coming at her, she leapt out of the way, falling to the ground as she narrowly avoided being grabbed, once more the pain from her shoulder shot through her but she just gritted her teeth and pushed it back. Looking up at the large, grey decepticon she brought the disruptor up to aim, pulling the trigger about three times to be sure she hit, which she did, before trying to scurry to her feet once more with her good arm, being careful not to drop the disruptor. However before she was able to get to her feet the blinded decepticon lashed out at her last location, hitting her before she had a chance to react and sending her flying back, tumbling onto the ground once more, her vision went white at the impact and she felt nothing but a burning pain shoot through her, centralized in her throat. She was moving, it wasn't of her own accord either, she felt the pain, that awful pain as she stood, feeling like a bystander in her own body as her vision began to clear, the pain in her throat grew even more intense but she couldn't even react to it, it was as if something was controlling her and she was just along for the ride.

The next few moments were a blur, she remembered running at the large cybertronian and jumping, leaping, rolling, ducking, avoiding every blindly thrown hit, she remembered shooting him with the disruptor near constant, leaving him in a near perpetual state of sensory deprivation, she remembered the pain from every motion, the burn in her throat taking over her whole body, she wanted to scream but had neither voice nor control for it, she remembered doing all of this, every feeling, the movements faster than she thought she could ever achieve, moving in ways she thought she never could. But she wasn't moving like this, she wasn't doing these things, something else had control, something else was using her body, no matter how hard she tried she couldn't get her own body to react, she was trapped with nothing but the pain, a prisoner of an unseen force and she didn't like it. She could see, hear, feel everything but do nothing, she had no idea how long this went on, how long she kept dodging and shooting, but it felt like time was crawling by at a snail's pace, she could hear Bumblebee fighting Barricade, Sam and Mikaela calling to her to run but she couldn't react, she saw a large metallic foot coming towards her and without even realizing it leapt to the side to avoid it, pain shooting through her body once more.

~Persevere, is this what it meant? This isn't persevering this is being a prisoner tormented in my own body! I can still feel all the pain. Somebody please help me! Ironhide where are you? Please be alright!~ her thoughts raced just as her heart rate was, she could hear it, feel it pounding in her cheat as her body aimed another shot for the large grey decepticon's optics. Then it came, the sound of multiple engines revving, heading to their current location. She would have looked to where they were coming from but she didn't even have control over her eyes at the moment though she could identify one of the engines by sound due to being around him so much, it was Ironhide's, he had called backup after all and the redhead had never been so glad to hear so many motors. Soon the sounds of engines were replaced with the sounds of transformation though she was unable to see any of them until Optimus's form came into her body's view, energon sword out as he struck at the blinded decepticon causing him to stumble back, the redhead wanted to stop now and run but her body still wouldn't listen to her, her form rushed forward and leveled the disruptor's aim on the cybertronian Optimus had just attacked, firing once again. ~Look, they're here, stop it will you? Whatever the fuck you are that's controlling me, keep this up and you're gonna get me killed!~ she thought, not knowing if whatever seemed to have control of her could hear her but it didn't stop, her body just kept firing, kept charging forward, she could hear the others, Ratchet, Ironhide, Sideswipe, even the twins calling for her to stop over the sounds of metal on metal contact but she couldn't react, she had no way of letting them know she wasn't even in control as her body dodged the two taller fighting mechs' feet on it's own, firing more on the decepticon with that disruptor, she wanted to stop but she couldn't, the pain was driving her mad as much as she tried to ignore it, she wanted to regain control but she could do nothing, she was helpless within the confinement of her own body until finally she got relief from it but in a way she had not hoped for.

The grey decepticon's weapons discharged, firing blindly at his attackers, one of the blind shots came right for her, her vision went white as immense pain coursed through her, it felt like every nerve ending was ablaze as she felt her feet lift from the ground, she felt herself being sent backwards, white noise filling her hearing as she slammed against something hard, her back cracking at impact.

"VICTORIA!" Ironhide's voice broke through the sounds that had overcome her for just the briefest moment before her vision blacked out and everything went silent, all that was left was the pain, the pain and the fear.

* * *

Why was it so cold? The redhead's eyes opened but everything was a blur, she could see someone standing over her but she couldn't make out any detail just yet, she couldn't even see if it was a human or a cybertronian her vision was such a blur.

"You're finally awake I see." came Ratchet's calm, professional voice "You had us rather worried for a while there, we weren't sure if you were going to wake up."

Victoria shook her head a bit, she didn't feel any pain, just how long had she been out and what the hell happened anyways? She tried to sit up only to feel a hand on her shoulder to stop her, seemed Ratchet was using his holoform for right now.

"Don't try to strain yourself, you need your rest." the medic said as he retracted his hand from her shoulder and grabbed her glasses for her, putting them on her face so she'd be able to see, she blinked a few times to clear her vision before trying to move her arms to sign and, while her right arm moved fine, from the elbow down of her left arm felt like dead weight, her eyes widened slightly at this realization and she looked over to her left arm.

"Please do not be afraid, I did what I could and managed to avoid having to amputate it, but I could not repair the damaged nerves." Ratchet said, his voice had softened a bit now, a regretful undertone was able to be heard as the holoform looked to her. The redhead sighed trying once more to sit up, but this time, instead of pushing her back down Ratchet put an arm behind her to help her sit up.

She brought her right hand to the unresponsive arm, scars ran deep across it's surface, an IV was placed in one of the veins, when she touched it she could feel the texture of the scars on her fingertips but her left arm felt nothing, she tried to move it only to find the elbow and everything below it wouldn't move, she trailed her fingers up a bit until she finally felt something in the arm halfway up her upper arm.

Ratchet had been watching her as she did this "That's where the undamaged nerves begin, anything below that point will have no sensation." he said before she looked to him, her returned her gaze "I am truly sorry, I did all I could." he said, the redhead nodded, looking back down at the scarred, motionless arm.

~My hands were my voice, my means of communication, I can fingerspell but that is much more difficult, how am I going to cope with this? All my wounds seem to be healed, I don't feel any pain and I know I broke my shoulder during that fight, just how long was I out for?~ she thought as she brought her right hand to the IV and, before Ratchet could stop her, pulled it from her skin, she didn't feel that even as the blood formed a tiny pool in the crook of her elbow, she didn't feel the warmth nor the wetness of the blood, that arm felt nothing at all, she didn't even feel when Ratchet's holoform placed the gauze pad at the spot and taped it down to stop the bleeding.

"Please be careful Victoria, I know you can't feel it but it can still be damaged." Ratchet said before looking to her, she figured the look on her face must have betrayed her sadness.

She brought up her right hand, finger spelling her question in just a few short words 'How long?'

"You were in a coma for 57 days Victoria, your injuries from the fight have healed, we were able to push back the decepticons and get you stabilized before you suffered too much blood loss then I brought you here to tend to your injuries. Sam and Mikaela said you tried to fight Megatron and I saw you wouldn't stop even after we had arrived, do you remember anything?" Ratchet asked as the redhead glanced around, they were in the med bay, though it seemed she had been set on a small bed that had been brought in, finally she looked towards Ratchet and nodded.

'I wasn't fighting.' she carefully finger spelled with her right hand, though it took her a good bit more time to form the words 'I saw, felt everything, wasn't in control.'

"You weren't in control?" the medic asked before sighing "Once you feel better I will have to ask more about it, but for the time being you shouldn't strain yourself. Ironhide asked me to let him know when you woke up, I'll go inform him that you are now aware." Ratchet said, Victoria gave the slightest smile, it was the best she could manage right now, and nodded as the medic's holoform faded and she heard his robotic form moving, she glanced towards him as he made his way to the door, glancing back at her with a concerned expression before leaving the room.

~What now?~ was her only thought as she was left alone in the med bay, looking over her useless left arm ~Just what's happening to me?~

* * *

**Author's notes:**

_Thank you to those who have reviewed so far, I thank you and the reviews keep making me want to write even more. Wow, never thought I would be writing this much this fast, but hey, I ain't complaining!_

_This chapter started out with a lot of humor, the Caramelldansen thing though, that idea just came up randomly, though will say was really nervous about writing in Ironhide actually dancing, even if it was to something not near as silly as Caramenlldansen, I figured that maybe, just maybe, he could be provoked into it since he doesn't seem like the type to back down from a challenge, I hope that scene isn't too out there. As for the Sideswipe spar, well, he wasn't going all out obviously, just having fun, I got the mental image of him trying to reach behind him to get someone off his back and it was just too funny not to squeeze in there!_

_Now, beyond the humor parts, the tone turned serious again quickly. She lost complete control and got injured yet again, goodness Vic seems to get hurt a lot, but hey, at least when she does she makes sure she got her hits in first! But now she's lost something else, being mute she relies on her hands to communicate, finger spelling takes a bit longer than full word signs, but most full word signs take both hands, she can only use one now. Nerves don't heal too well and once broken they can't heal like a bone, if too much damage happens to a nerve it's dead for life in most cases, and that is what happened to her arm, though it is still alive, she cannot feel it nor use it, it's just a useless limb right now. _

_Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, now let me shush before I write notes as long as the rest of my scenes. The next chapter will be out within two weeks max, maybe sooner, as I seem to have a trend of doing. Till next time ya'll!_


	7. One day doesn't cut it

It hadn't been long before she heard the heavy, metallic footsteps coming into the med bay, she looked towards the door seeing Ironhide's form coming into view, she couldn't help but give a slight smile as she stood from where she was sitting on the bed, her left arm hanging lifelessly at her side. Her guardian looked to her a moment before beginning to move towards her, kneeling down once he grew near enough, the redhead reached out her good arm to place a hand on his shin and gave a simple nod.

"Glad you're finally awake." the black mech said, looking over her damaged and scarred arm that dangled at her side. "Ratch told me, I'm sorry I wasn't able to keep you safe." he said, Victoria shook her head at this statement. She stepped nearer to him, moving her hand from his shin to try and reach up the best she could, due to him having leaned down a bit she was able to place a hand on the side of his face giving a small smile and shaking her head once more.

"It. . . .wasn't your. . .fault. . ." she forced the whisper, grimacing at the pain that shot through her throat as she did so.

"Don't do that, I know it hurts you." Ironhide said, bringing a hand to lightly scoop her up from the floor, giving her a bit more time to get settled since she only had the use of one hand to stabilize herself before lifting her up a bit. "What happened out there?" he asked once she was eye level.

She brought up her good hand and finger spelled her answer, hating how long it took to get even one statement out 'Something took over.'

"Ratchet mentioned that you said you weren't in control. Vic, you shouldn't have tried to fight, you should have ran, if you had this mighta never happened."

The redhead lowered her gaze a bit, glancing at her mangled, useless arm, the scars ran so deep, scars to remind her just how fragile she was in this situation. She looked back towards Ironhide, her expression an unreadable one for a moment as he continued.

"What were you thinkin' Vic?" he asked.

'It wasn't me.' she spelled out with her good hand.

"I know better than that, maybe you weren't in control when you went after Megatron, but you were in control when you turned around to take a shot at Starscream. Am I wrong?"

Victoria shook her head at that, she knew he was right but she couldn't have just left him behind without at least trying to help, even if it was stupid and reckless, she couldn't have just done nothing, she had to help even if she shouldn't have.

A sigh came from Ironhide, drawing her attention back to him as he spoke "We almost lost you. Now you have a damaged arm, Ratchet doesn't know a way to fix it, he tried Vic, he really did, I should have been there, maybe this wouldn't have happened."

The redhead looked to her guardian, shaking her head as she kneeled down in his palm, placing her working hand on the surface as her useless arm simply swayed a bit at her movements. She just looked to him for the longest time, what could she say? It wasn't his fault, she didn't want him to blame himself for what happened to her, after all, he had to hold off Starscream, how was he to know the other two were going to show up? How was he to know that something was going to take over her actions, her body, and put her in danger? None of them could have expected this, she sure as hell hadn't! Yet here he was trying to shoulder the blame for what happened to her when he had done all he could. This blame should fall on her, she's the one who turned around to take that shot, had she just ran then maybe they could have gotten away before the other decepticons showed up, just that little extra time could have made all the difference. But what about Ironhide? Who knows how things might have been different without the decepticon being sensory deprived for even that short time, every second, every move counted in combat, there were so many variables, so many possible outcomes, there was just no way of knowing.

Finally she lifted her right hand once more 'My fault, not your's.' she spelled out before sighing, lowering her gaze once more.

"You should have ran when I told you to." Ironhide said "How are you feelin'?"

The redhead gave a small nod, looking at that useless arm again before looking to him. 'Alive.' she spelled out as a metal finger came to her left arm, running down the limb without sensation.

"And bout this?" he asked, Victoria forced a small smirk at the question.

'It won't break me.' she spelled out, this getting a huff from her guardian.

"Even now you won't stop actin' tough, shoulda figured." he stated as he withdrew his finger from her arm.

'How I am.' she spelled out before Ironhide lowered her back to the ground, allowing her to step down onto the floor once more before she looked up to him 'Any more info?' she spelled out the question as Ironhide regarded her a moment.

The black mech nodded after a few moments. "They are buildin' somethin'. They've been gettin' closer but I think they're takin' their time right now. They're tryin' to bring back the Fallen from what we found out, they need that fragment in your throat for it though. They ain't gonna stop until they have you Vic, you'll have to stay at the base, near us, it's the only way." he said, leaning down a bit more to look at her as she gave a heavy sigh, sitting on the floor and slumping a bit.

'Great.' she signed with her good arm before bringing her hand to her head. This was not what she was hoping to hear, she wanted this thing out her throat before, after what else had happened she really wanted it gone, after a moment she looked up to her guardian 'Today's date?' she spelled out the question.

"It's December 27th. Sam, Mikaela and a few of the others left some gifts for you for somethin' called Christmas, since you weren't awake for it." he commented.

Vic gave a small silent chuckle at that, it was nice of them to have thought about that, something she wasn't use to, though she also felt bad about not being able to return the favor due to having been in a coma. She'd have to make it up to them. It was still so hard for her to believe she had been out for that long, almost two months of her life was gone now and to top it off she woke up with a useless arm and a good many more scars to add to her growing collection but at least she wasn't in pain. She then sighed, shaking her head ever so slightly.

'So long.' she spelled out, Ironhide nodded.

"Yea, too long, but glad to have you back." he said looking to her, when she looked up at him she could see he had just a slight smile before their attention was drawn by another entering the room, they both glanced back to see Bumblebee walking in, Sam and Mikaela following behind them, the redhead gave a small smile seeing her friends enter as they made their way towards the two as the Victoria stood once more.

It wasn't long before she found herself caught in a four way hug by Sam, Mikaela and Bumblebee's quickly activated holoform, she had heard of group hugs before but this was ridiculous! She just smiled though, glad to see them, they seemed rather glad that she was awake now though if they didn't stop squeezing her she might not be conscience for long. Finally she was released, shaking her head with an amused look on her face.

"About time you woke up Vic! How are you feeling?" Mikaela asked, Victoria just nodded, small smile still on her face to let them know she was alright. Bumblebee's holoform deactivated as he stepped forward in his true form, having a seat on the floor.

"Man, I don't know what you were thinking, that was nuts, Megatron could have killed you! But nice to see you're alright, well, mostly." Sam said as he threw his arm over Mikaela's shoulders.

Victoria looked over to Ironhide, her communication was highly limited right now, in truth, she was at a loss for how to react, how to talk to them, her guardian must have realized this as he soon spoke up.

"She can't really respond, her left arm is pretty much useless, she was also left handed, so writing won't be easy for 'er." he explained, Sam and Mikaela looked to him as he said this, though Bumblebee's attention seemed to be on her, a sad expression on his face.

"~I'm so sorry.~" came the sound clip from the yellow mech's speakers, the redhead just shook her head.

'Don't pity me, I'm alive.' she finger spelled, at that Bumblebee nodded though his expression still held that sad quality.

Sam and Mikaela looked back to the redhead, they smiled, fake smiles, ones meant only to give some kind of comfort, but they were anything but comforting, the redhead sighed, she couldn't hold it against them they were trying after all.

'I'll be ok.' she spelled out before Ironhide relayed the message for her.

They stayed for a while, talking to her though the conversation was not easy, Ironhide had to tell them almost everything she said, though anything she did say was short due to the time finger spelling took, Ratchet had shown up by the end of it to shoo them out, saying she needed her rest to recover, as if almost two months of rest wasn't enough! Only her guardian and the medic remained soon enough, they insisted she at least tried to rest, not as if that would do any good.

* * *

Ratchet had finally agreed to let her leave the med bay after 24 hours, Ironhide hadn't left her side, even now as she sat in the makeshift room. They had told her she wasn't to leave the base for the time being, she protested but she couldn't debate their points nor was she truly in the mood to, they were right and she knew it, she hated it, but she admitted it and agreed. It had taken her some time but she had explained what happened, it was agreed amongst them that her loss of control was likely the allspark fragment's doing though they couldn't figure out a reason for it to do so. Ratchet had an idea for a way to at least give her some usage of her arm but he said he had to figure out the details and left it at that.

Now she was simply sitting on the sofa, a few of the gifts the others had left for her after Christmas had been opened already, she felt bad that they went through the trouble of getting her stuff when she wasn't even awake and hadn't managed to get them anything in return. Sam and Mikaela had given her a nice, long rider's jacket, something that she was thankful for seeing as winter was in full swing right now, she certainly had to find a way to return that favor once things settled down. Sideswipe's gift was something rather simple, a sharpening stone, something she would certainly make use of, Bumblebee's gift was simple but functional, a few more note pads and a nice pen for her to be able to write, though she would have to practice using her right hand. Overall, the gifts were nice, she hadn't expected it, but she would have to thank them somehow.

Now she was just sitting, cleaning up the wrapping paper from the gifts with her good hand, Ironhide was sitting not too far from the sofa, he had just finished upkeep on one of his cannons. The redhead gave a small sigh, shoving loose paper into one of the boxes.

"You alright Vic?" Ironhide said, causing the redhead to look over to him, she gave a small nod before she saw him move to stand, soon he had transformed into his topkick form and his holoform activated, Victoria tilted her head a bit seeing this as she watch him open the passenger door of his alt mode and start looking for something in the glove compartment. She simply watched as he found whatever her had been looking for and began towards her.

She tilted her head once more, a bit curious as to what he was up to when his holoform walked up to her, he must had noticed the somewhat puzzled look on her face if his next words were anything to go off of.

"What? You didn't think I hadn't gotten you anythin', did you?" he said, Vic gave a small half smile, she hadn't expected him to do that, Sam and Mikaela yes, even Sideswipe and Bumblebee, but Ironhide?

He came to stand behind her as he pulled something out of a small box he held "Look down a bit." he said, which she did, she soon saw something dangle in front of her vision as a sturdy box necklace chain was placed around her neck, she looked at the pendant on the chain as it came to rest at her chest, a small smile crossed her lips upon seeing it, it was a black, metal sword pendant about an inch and a half in length, at the hilt a small blue gemstone was set. Once he had closed the clasp he let it settle around her neck before leaning over the back of the sofa a bit as she looked up to him, the smile still on her lips.

"Thought you'd like it." he said upon seeing her expression before she moved to hug him with her good arm, a small chuckle came from her guardian at this "OK, I get it, you're welcome." he said before very briefly returning the hug, she released him afterwards and looked at the pendant that now hung at her neck for a moment. She smiled once more and looked back up to him.

'Thank you.' she signed, since that sign only required one hand 'But why?' she then spelled out.

"I figured you'd like it, seein' how much you like swords and all." he said before jumping over the back of the sofa and taking a seat, Vic couldn't help but quirk an eyebrow, he rarely used his holoform when they were at the base and he did have plenty of room to be in his true form here, she was curious as to why he hadn't deactivated his holoform already but she didn't get a chance to inquire before he spoke once again.

"Victoria, you really did have me worried, Ratchet wasn't sure if you were gonna wake up, look, I know you're a fighter, but you could get yourself killed in this war, 'specially with you bein' a target. I know you don't like havin' to stay at the base, but after what happened, can't risk that again, don't wanna see you get yourself killed." he said, turning to look at her as he spoke, his voice a bit soft even with it's gruffness.

'Why are you so worried?' she spelled out, though it took her time to make the statement.

"Because you almost died, it wasn't easy for Ratch to get you stable again." he said, the redhead gave a heavy sigh, looking to the side a moment. She hadn't realized she had been in that bad of a state, sure her arm got messed up but she didn't know the extent of the damage beyond that and what she sustained during the fight. She felt the holoform's hand come to her chin, lightly forcing her to look back at him, she caught herself looking right into his eyes for a moment before she diverted her gaze. "Will you look at me Vic?" he said before she slowly brought her gaze back to his. "Why is it you always look away anyways?" he asked as he moved his hand from under her chin.

The redhead sighed, closing her eyes for a moment as she bowed her head slightly. Why did she always look away from him anyways? She knew why, she didn't want to admit it, but she did know exactly why she couldn't look him in the eye for long, she almost wanted to say something but it had been such a short time that she had known him, not to mention the fact she had gone into an almost two month coma so, while to her it felt like everything had been so recent, in truth it had been quite some time since they had spent time together, now was not the time to say anything and she knew it ~Live every day like it may be your last, don't be too scared to do something because you may never get the chance if you put it off too long. That's what I've always said before right? Why I take the risks I do. But why can't I bring myself to take this risk?~ she thought before finally looking back up to where Ironhide's holoform was.

She brought up her good hand before spelling out 'Wish I could say.'

"What's stoppin' you Vic? In the time I've known you you ain't let nothin' stop you before, why start now?" he asked.

The redhead just sighed, shaking her head slightly 'Scared.' she spelled out, something not easy for her to admit but it was the truth, she was scared, scared of pushing him away, scared of not getting up the courage to let him know, scared of what issues there would be to face if she did tell him exactly why she always looked away, scared of her own feelings. Never before had she actually been so scared, death she could face, injury she was use to, why was she so scared of this?

"Scared of what Vic? You know I ain't gonna hurt you." he said, pulling her from her thoughts.

'I know you wouldn't.' she spelled out before just shaking her head, she saw his holoform fade away after that before he transformed back into his true form, looking over to where she was sitting.

"I ain't playin' this game, when you're ready to answer me, lemme know." he said, the redhead looked up towards him, she was tempted to just let him know but she couldn't bring herself to, this wasn't the time, she would just have to wait, she was afraid of being rejected and this was a friendship she didn't want to ruin.

'Sorry.' she signed as she simply lowered her gaze not really knowing what else to say at this point, so she just sat in silence, her right hand coming to the pendant he had given her, he fingers wrapping around the metal of it, she was thankful for the gift but her own stubbornness ruined the moment. When she looked up again she saw that Ironhide had begun the upkeep on his other cannon, she wanted to go over there and watch but, for now, the best thing she could do was keep her distance, or so she thought.

~We're too different, I can be killed by a simple misstep, we're from two different worlds, literally. It just wouldn't work, besides, with how different our lifespans are, I couldn't ask him to go into a relationship with someone who would grow old and die in such a short time, it wouldn't be right, I don't even know if the feelings are returned, especially after me having been in a coma for two months. How do I get myself in these fucked up situations?~ she thought as she leaned back on the sofa once more, she could about kick herself right now for letting herself have feelings for yet another after all her failed past relationships, most of them had failed due to her argumentive tendencies but she was just too stubborn to change herself for another. She knew she was no angel, nothing near pure, but did that really matter in this situation? She looked over to her guardian once more, watching him work on his cannons ~Maybe one day?~

* * *

New year's Eve, she never was one to party on this day but right now she'd take anything over being cooped up at this base, sure the company was great but she still felt trapped. Her limp left arm was currently covered by a long black glove, she couldn't stand seeing those scars right now, scars she had gotten from her own stupidity she could deal with but these? The redhead gave a heavy sigh, pulling the coat Sam and Mikaela had given her closer to keep out the winter chill, she had missed the first snowfall of the year but it hadn't been the last, the ground was currently covered in a blanket of the stuff as she stood leaned against the outside wall of one of the warehouses and watch the twins actually having a less violent fight for once. It had seemed the two most annoying bots in the group had found the joy that was the snowball fight. They were currently pelting each other with handful after handful of the stuff, seemingly enjoying the hell out of it. She couldn't help but give a small smile, it was nice to see them having fun with each other instead of being at one another's throats. Jolt and Ratchet had also taken to watching the antics though they stood some distance away to avoid inadvertedly being dragged into the playful fight.

After watching for some time Victoria pushed off from the wall she had been leaning against and took the long way around the playing twins to join the medic and his assistant, she may not be able to hold much of a conversation but sitting alone was a little annoying. They hadn't even realized she had walked up until she was almost right next to them, she could hear them talking in Cybertronian before they took note of her presence and after a moment Ratchet looked to her.

"Good afternoon Victoria." he said, the redhead gave a slight smile and nodded to him as Jolt went quiet at his side. "Have you had any issues with the fragment or you arm?" the medic asked, kneeling down so she didn't have to look up as much.

Jolt muttered something Victoria couldn't quite understand but whatever it was earned him a glare from Ratchet before the medic looked back towards the redhead, she finally shook her head in response to his question.

"Good, and what about coping with your arm's current state?" Ratchet asked, the redhead glanced at the limp left arm and shrugged before looking up to the medic.

'Can I talk to you?' she spelled out.

Ratchet gave a small nod as he offered a hand to lift her from the ground, standing before looking over to Jolt "I will be back soon Jolt." he said to which Jolt simply nodded before Ratchet began to carry the redhead away from where the others were and towards the med bay area. "Is everything alright Victoria?" he asked as he made his way to the door, opening it and walking inside with her.

Victoria gave a small sigh, giving a slight shrug as he moved to set her down on the large table.

"Alright, what's the matter?" he asked looking down to her.

'A lot, honestly.' she spelled out before taking a seat on the table and looking up to the medic.

"Well?" he asked, moving to grab a small box and set it not too far from where she was on the table before he activated his holoform and moved to take something from the box along with a few tools.

'Two months is a long time.' she spelled out, Ratchet looked to her and shook his head.

"Look under the supply box over there, Sam forgot his laptop last time he visited, I don't think he'd mind you using it to type, since it might be faster for you." the holoform said, pointing towards the supply box on the edge of the table, the redhead gave a small nod and got up to look, finding the small laptop right where Ratchet had said it would be and pulling it out. She walked back towards where Ratchet's holoform was and took a seat once more, opening the laptop and signing in under the guest profile. "Will that be better?" the medic asked as she opened up a word processor, she nodded to him before typing.

~'Much better, thanks.'~ she typed, sure she was using one hand but it was a lot faster than finger spelling. Ratchet moved to be able to see the screen, binging the small item he was working on with him.

"Good, now what is it you wanted to speak with me about?" he asked as he began working on whatever it was he was tinkering with.

~'Listen, please don't tell anyone, I know you likely won't but still.'~ she typed, he glanced over the screen and nodded.

"I won't Victoria, I am not one for gossip." he said looking back to his little project though he kept glancing at the screen from time to time as she typed.

~'I know this may sound crazy, but I've been finding myself in a bit of an odd situation, well, besides all this allspark stuff.'~

"Well, what kind of situation are you referring to?"

~'Is it possible for a human and a cybertronian to be together?'~

The was a pause from Ratchet once he read that, the redhead looked towards him after a moment, OK, so that was a rather blunt way of asking the question but it was better than beating around the bush right? After a moment Ratchet went back to working on the item he was messing with.

"There are many factors to consider, your race only lives for 80 years, give or take. To us that is a rather short time frame, I would say it would be a difficult situation to say the least. Then there is of course the cultural differences to consider, our worlds are quite different, even if there are some similarities between our races. It would be quite an obstacle to try and overcome. The physical differences are obvious, though, granted, we do have holoforms which make interaction with humans much easier but they are simply a tool for us to use, a mere representation which, while in a sense are connected to our true forms are also rather separate at the same time. However on an emotional level, even with the differences we do share the same base emotions and to some extent desires. I would say it is not impossible but certainly not ideal either, such a relationship would have many trails." Ratchet said before looking to the redhead for a moment "Why do you ask?"

~'Because, I've found myself with an interest in someone.'~ she typed, tensing just slightly half expecting a negative reaction from the medic.

"I see, somehow I am not surprised, but you did just come out of a coma a few days ago, it's a bit too early to worry about such things, I say."

~'I know it is, I was asleep so long, I have to give it time and I have to be sure feelings are returned before I take that kind of chance.'~

"Who is it?" he asked, Victoria bit her lower lip at the question, she had hoped he wouldn't ask but it wasn't really surprising that he had, she half expected it. She went to type before pausing and giving a small sigh.

~'So what are you working on?'~ she typed in a poor attempt to avoid answering.

"Don't try to change the subject, who is it Victoria?" he asked giving her a bit of a knowing look.

~'Won't say anything?'~

"I told you I don't gossip."

~'Ironhide.'~

"I had figured as much."

~'Then why were you so adamant on getting me to answer?'~

"Because I do not like going off of assumptions. I am guessing you haven't told him your interest?"

~'Of course I haven't, we've known each other such a short time, and with me having been in a coma for two months I hardly think this would be the best timing to say something.'~

"As I mentioned before, you humans have such short lives, you should at least let him know, you take no time trying to attack a decepticon, something which can get you killed, I see no reason why you would take too much time with something like this."

~'Injury and death I can face, rejection, that I fear.'~

"It should be the other way around. Now, to answer your other question, I am working on a possible way of giving you some means of using your arm again, it will take time to complete of course and I have no idea if it will even work once completed but it may if I can configure it to translate the electrical charges sent through your nervous system into readable data."

~'Like an advanced prosthetic?'~

"Yes and no, more of an exoskeleton for your arm, unlike prosthetics it would not function off of muscular movements but instead interface with the working nerves remaining in your arm. Of course this would require surgically attaching the receptors to the still functioning nerves as that is the most effective means and the only way it would be able to receive the impulses from the nervous system. I know how much you dislike surgery but it is either that or not regaining use of your arm. I figured you wouldn't mind having to undergo a procedure for something of this sort. Since your arm is still intact despite it's current condition, an exoskeletal structure is the best option."

~'Surgery, just great, just make sure I am knocked out before any kinds of needles or anything come anywhere's near me or else I will freak out.'~

"I intend to, though it will take me a while to finish, I took measurements for your arm to ensure a proper fit when you were still in your coma. I do expect a few issues to arise once it is attached but hopefully they will be able to be worked through."

The redhead gave a small nod, looking over the item he was working on. So her arm wasn't going to stay useless? Even if she wasn't able to feel just being able to use it again would be great though of course it would take some time to get use to if it even worked, she turned back to the laptop after looking over the item and began to type once again. ~'Optimus didn't mind you doing this?'~

Ratchet shook his head at the question "No, he is more concerned with the sharing of weapon technology, this would classify as medical technology more than anything else. Considering the fact that your hands are needed for communication in most cases he agreed that such an item would be allowable as it is not a weapon."

Victoria nodded once more before typing ~'Ratchet, thanks for letting me talk to you, I know I'm often rather argumentive towards you, and sorry about that, I don't mean anything by it.'~

"For a time I had thought you disliked me for some reason until I realized you're like that with almost everyone. It is still annoying and you're welcome Victoria. I do have to wonder however, are you going to stop being so confrontational?"

~'Now Ratchet, I just wouldn't be myself if I didn't argue with you, now would I?'~

"I'll take that as a no."

~'Just know I don't mean any offense by it, it's just who I am.'~

"I'll keep that in mind." he commented as he finished up something on the device he was working on before moving to put it up once more "Now, I do have a conversation to finish with Jolt if we are finished here." he said, Victoria gave a small nod before closing the word processor on the laptop and shutting it down. She closed the lid and placed it back where it had been stored as Ratchet deactivated his holoform. He stepped forward in his true form and lifted her from the table. "If you ever need someone to talk to in the future Victoria, I just wish to let you know that I do not mind listening." he said to her, the redhead gave a small nod.

'Thank you.' she signed.

"It is no problem." Ratchet said as he put her down before they made their way out of the med bay. Victoria had never really been one to go to others when she had an issue but, well, things changed sometimes, and she might have to take the medic up on the offer if needed, or simply for the sake of having conversation if he would put up with her long enough.

* * *

New year's day had come and gone, Victoria couldn't care less it was just another day anyways. She had finally been able to convince Ironhide and Ratchet to bring her to make a store run, though both of them had insisted on coming with her and they were both using their holoforms as they made their way through the store. She had gone in for one thing and one thing only, hair dye, her blond roots were showing from the growth of her hair during that two month nap and she intended to do something about it, she may have been born platinum blond but she did not like that color being shown. She finally found the dye she was looking for, luckily due to how light her natural hair was she could just dye it and get a pretty strong color without bleaching. Once she grabbed the box of dye she turned back to where her guardian's and Ratchet's holoforms were standing.

"Alright, you got it, let's get outta here." Ironhide said, Victoria just tilted her head at him before moving over to the book section, she had wanted to pick up something to read if she was going to be stuck at the base so long, thankfully the book section wasn't more than an aisle away "Primus girl, I thought you said you only needed one thing."

"Ironhide, she is staying at the base, some reading material might not be a bad idea." Ratchet said, the redhead glanced back to him and gave a small nod before looking through the titles once more, she couldn't help but roll her eyes at just how many sappy romance novels there were, seriously, how could someone read something that was 300 plus pages of drama and courting, finally she saw something which might hold her interests, it was a suspense novel she had seen some decent reviews on and it seemed pretty long so it might keep her busy for a while, she pulled it from the shelf and turned back to Ironhide and Ratchet with a nod. As tempted as she was to grab herself a few snack items she knew Ironhide wasn't liking the fact he was parked in his alt mode in a parking lot while it was snowing and she couldn't blame him.

Once she had made the purchases they made their way outside, Ironhide helped her get into his alt mode since she was unable to use her left arm to pull herself up and soon the holoform got into the driver's seat as the topkick and hummer's engines roared to life.

"Don't see why you were so worried bout gettin' dye, not like what color you hair is matters." Ironhide said as they pulled from the parking space.

'Don't look good blond.' she finger spelled. A small huff could be heard from Ironhide.

"Doubt that." he nearly muttered, this caused Victoria to look to him a moment, quirking an eyebrow, he noticed her look ad tilted his head at her "What?" he asked, Vic just shook her head "Oh no, you look at me like that then just shake your head when I ask what. Out with it Vic, what's goin' on in that head of your's."

'Nothing.' she spelled out, looking forward for a moment.

"Alright, your bein' evasive is gettin' old. Stop actin' like a twitterpated sparklet and answer me." Ironhide said, he even sounded annoyed, the redhead tensed a bit at his statement, lowering her head quickly so her unruly hair would hide her face, and hide the embarrassed blush that was burning her cheeks. She bit her lip trying to figure out how to respond to something like that.

It wasn't long until she felt his hand under her chin, lifting her head so she would look at him, there was no hiding that blush from him now and she was certain he must have seen it considering his pause, his expression softened a bit before he moved his hand from under her chin. "When we get back to base, we're gonna have to talk." he said as they continued down the road, the rest of the trip was filled with an awkward silence. Once they were outside of the city limits the holoform deactivated as they made their way down the near abandoned roads towards the base, once they arrived the door opened and she got out with her shopping bag in hand. Once she stepped back Ironhide transformed and looked right at her, Ratchet pulled up right after and changed into his robotic form as well, she saw Ratchet moving to stand next to Ironhide but couldn't bring herself to look up, a bit scared to meet her guardian's gaze.

"Is everything alright?" Ratchet asked.

"Yea Ratch, don't worry bout it." Ironhide responded before Vic heard a sigh from the medic.

Ratchet began to talk to Ironhide in Cybertronian, though she hadn't looked up she could see their legs enough to tell that Ironhide had turned to face the medic as they spoke, still speaking in Cybertronian, it annoyed her that she had no idea what they were saying though she couldn't help but tense a bit, she had a very uncomfortable feeling right now, just standing there, especially after Ironhide's reaction earlier, finally they stopped speaking in Cybertronian though she heard a loud huff come from Ironhide before he lowered a hand to her. She looked up to him half expecting an upset expression, but she was met with something of a contemplative one instead. She moved to climb up onto his hand, giving a small glance towards Ratchet as she did so only to see the medic had his arms crossed over his chest with that knowing look on his face again.

"I'll leave you to for now, seems you two have quite a bit to discuss." Ratchet said before excusing himself and leaving the redhead with her guardian.

Victoria lowered her gaze once more as she sat in Ironhide's hand "Don't start that again." her guardian said as a large metal finger lifted her chin "Ratchet said you need to tell me somethin'."

The redhead gave a heavy sigh as Ironhide moved his finger from her chin, she gave a small nod as she felt like her heart was in her throat. She didn't think she was going to get off the hook this time, she had avoided it so many times before even in the last few days she had noticed she had begun to distance herself from him scared to say anything. How could she say it with such limited means of communication? Sam had retrieved his forgotten laptop so that wasn't an option and she could only finger spell things for the time being which, while it worked, it also took so much time.

'Not out here.' she spelled out, looking towards Ironhide, he nodded.

"Alright." he said before turning to carry her towards the warehouse, once inside he set her down, the redhead just tossed her bag on the sofa before looking towards Ironhide.

Ironhide kneeled down so he was nearer to eye level with her "Well?" he asked, the redhead gave a heavy sigh. She was trying to think of a proper way to say it, she brought her hand up to start but paused a moment trying to think of a way to convey it.

She shook her head a moment, letting her good arm fall to her side once more as he gaze dropped to the floor for a moment "Fine. . ." she said in that airy whisper, grimacing as that pain shot through her throat but she didn't care right now, signing just didn't work all the time, she had to say something, there was no way of backing out now, if she even attempted to it would push him away and she knew that. She suddenly lifted her head, meeting his gaze with her own, her good hand tightened into a fist for a moment "I like you. . . . . .alright?. . . . .I said it. . . .happy now?" she whispered the best she could before bringing her hand to her throat from the pain, grimacing slightly but she wasn't done yet, she choked back the pain to continue "I did. . .before. . .it's. . .it's what I. . .was scared. . .to say. . ." she finished before coughing from the strain on her throat, her face contorted in pain a bit but she did her best to push it back, she had to say it even if it hurt her to get those words out. She looked away, afraid of his response and afraid he might even be angry with her for such.

After a moment of silence she looked back towards him to see his head was lowered slightly, he looked as if he was thinking for a moment, the redhead could just kick herself right now she had wanted to say something, sure, but what if it was too soon, what if he had no similar feelings or worse, if he just flat out rejected her. The silence was maddening right now but she kept her eyes on him waiting to see what reaction he would have. After what seemed like forever he lifted his head and looked at the redhead with an expression she couldn't quite read, he didn't look angry at all which was something of a relief but she just didn't know what to make of the expression beyond that.

"So that's what this is bout?" he finally spoke, his gaze was right on the redhead, she just gave a small nod. A sigh came from the mech before he reached out towards her carefully scooping her up so she was sitting in his hand as he lifted her to eye level. "Could you really stand bein' with an old bot like me?" he asked, the redhead gave a small smile, nodding to him. She saw a slight smile come across Ironhide's features before, without another word said, he brought her to his chest, gently holding her there.

Victoria couldn't help but smile as she grabbed onto his chest armor with her working arm, pulling herself closer as she closed her eyes and relaxed against the warm metal, sure it wasn't the softest thing to be held against but she really didn't care, she knew he wouldn't hold her too tightly. She had been so scared to say something but now that she had she felt like a major strain was taken off of her, sure there were many issues to work through but that just came with the territory and she was stubborn enough to push beyond those issues, after all, what was life without it's challenges?

* * *

**Aurtor's notes:**

_A much slower chapter this time, so, nothing got blown up, crushed, shot or killed, but what's been causin' the redhead a bit of stress is finally off her chest. I tried to do decently with this chapter, it was one of those really touchy subject type of chapters but I gave it a go._

_Yup, she finally said it, after all the times of avoiding answering so he didn't know she had grown fond of him, she finally just said it, it just took her almost getting herself killed and talkin' to Ratchet before she had it in her to say something. This was a tame chapter, trust me, I got some stuff planned to spice it up again but after what happened last chapter, well, I figured a slower paced one was in order._

_I think writing their relationship along with the main plot is gonna be interesting, I sure hope so. Also, I wanna give one hellova shoutout to my friend Leathurkatt, I got stuck on this chapter so many times it ain't even funny and she put up with me bouncin' ideas off her skull, so thank ya hun._

_Also, this one is short, if I post another chapter that's the short any time soon ya'll got my full consent to throw somethin' at me k?_

_Anyways, hope ya'll enjoyed an' as always, til next time ya'll!_


	8. Change and Adjust

They had stayed up most of the previous night, even with her current limitation conversation came a lot easier now. She sighed as she let the warm water run over her, watching the red dye drain from the tub as she reflected on everything. She had never thought her life would change this much, sure robotic sentient beings from another world was a shock she hadn't expected but even more surprising to her was the fact that she was in a relationship again, it was a new one of course but still, after all the times her lovers in the past had left her, all the ones she had driven away and all the times she had gotten burned here she was again giving it another try, even more surprising was the fact she had initiated it this time. She couldn't help but give a silent chuckle at her thoughts, it was such a contrast and went completely against her preference for dating shorter men but she wasn't superficial enough to let something like that bother her, the height difference was the easiest issue to get over.

Once the water began to run clear she moved from the shower and dressed, shaking her head rather ungracefully to get at least some of the water out of it and effectively splattering the walls in the process. It didn't take long before she exited the bathroom, she hadn't even bothered drying off, not like she ever did, so her clothes were clinging to her a bit but she wasn't concerned, they would stop clinging once she dried. She glanced over to where Ironhide was still sleeping, she couldn't help but give a small smile as she adjusted her glasses.

She moved to clean up the mess she had caused while dyeing her hair, she had to admit that it had proven difficult with only one arm working but she had managed and her roots weren't showing anymore so she was content even if she had stained the floor a bit in the process. She threw the garbage in the trash bin before she heard movement from Ironhide, it seemed he was finally waking up. She turned to him, waiting for him to become fully aware before walking towards him.

He looked towards the redhead seeing her walking towards him "Didn't think you'd be up already." he said, she just smiled a bit giving a small nod and flicking a section of her wet hair. "Good, maybe now you'll stop complainin' bout it." he said as he stood. Victoria just put a hand on her hip and tilted her head to the side, raising an eyebrow at him, this only got a small chuckle from the mech.

Victoria just sighed, shaking her head a bit with a slightly amused look on her face. Her attention was then pulled by the sound of the larger door opening. She looked over to see Ratchet standing in the door with a rather serious look on his face.

"Sorry to barge in but we have a bit of an issue." The medic stated in a tone as serious as his expression currently was.

"What's goin' on Ratch?" Ironhide asked from behind where the redhead was standing.

"Optimus just got a message from NEST, the decepticons attacked the base there, they've requested for us to return to NEST headquarters due to it, he had to tell them about the allspark fragment in Victoria's throat, it was the only way she would be able to come with us since we can't leave her here due to the current situation." Ratchet explained before giving a sigh "We need to begin traveling later today."

"What? What are they gonna do now that they know bout the fragment in 'er neck." Ironhide asked as Victoria heard him moving towards her, he soon came to a stop standing behind the redhead, his hand coming down to lift her from the floor.

"Optimus got them to agree to leave her in our protection, she will be at the base with us, proper accommodations are being arranged." the medic informed them.

Victoria looked towards Ironhide at this point, lifting her good arm to sign 'Will be complex.'

Ironhide nodded "Yea it will be." he said before looking towards Ratchet "What time are we leavin'?"

"Four hours, Bumblebee will be staying in Tranquility with Sam and Mikaela." Ratchet stated before looking towards Victoria "I would suggest you gather everything you need, we do not know how long we are going to be there." he said.

The redhead gave a small nod 'I will.' she spelled out.

"Good." the medic said before looking at the two, his serious expression lightening a bit "Pardon my asking but, did the two of you manage to get through yesterday's issue?" Ratchet asked raising an optic ridge curiously.

"Yea, we did." Ironhide responded.

"Oh? So she told you?" Ratchet asked as he looked towards Victoria, who currently had a bit of a smile on her face, she nodded.

"Wait? You knew Ratch? Why the slag didn't you say somethin'?" Ironhide inquired at the realization.

The medic just shrugged "It wasn't my place to say anything, that was best left up to her. So you two are together now then?" he asked.

"You could say that." the weapons specialist stated, his fingers curling ever so slightly around the redhead sitting in his hand. The medic smiled just a small bit hearing this.

"Good, maybe the both of you will benefit from it, I would say it might help curb both of your stubbornness but that would be hoping for too much." Ratchet stated, this earned the medic a glare from the redhead and a huff from Ironhide, however their reactions simply got a small chuckle from Ratchet. "I'll leave the two of you be so you can prepare for the trip." the mech said before turning and leaving the warehouse.

Once the door had closed Victoria looked over to Ironhide, shaking her head a bit 'Think he found it amusing.' she spelled out.

"Yea I think he did, least Ratch won't joke bout it, it's the twins and Sideswipe I'm worried bout." he said as he placed her back on the ground "Better start gettin' ready."

Victoria gave a small nod as she moved to start packing up her belongings, she was struggling with it a bit but she was managing. After a while Ironhide activated his holoform to help her though she kept insisting she could do it on her own, as expected that didn't go over too well and he insisted he was going to help her rather she liked it or not. It wasn't like she had a lot to pack and it took almost no time. Soon enough her bags were placed right next to the door so they would be easy to grab on the way out. As she added the last bag to the pile she felt Ironhide's holoform come up behind her and wrapping his arms around her, pulling her into a stern embrace, she couldn't help but smile a bit as she leaned against him. She soon felt his head come to rest on her shoulder, a sigh coming from him as he tightened the hug for just a brief moment before relaxing it once more.

"Gonna be a lotta people at NEST, I know you don't like bein' round big groups, think you'll be able to handle it?" he asked, Victoria turned her head a bit to give his a small nudge, she smiled and nodded a bit. "Just wanna make sure." Ironhide stated before he released her from the embrace, his holoform deactivated and he stepped forward in his true form before moving to lift her from the ground once more and bringing her to his shoulder. She carefully climbed up before getting a decent grip with her good arm and settling there as they left the warehouse and made their way towards the lounge area. Upon entering she saw that all of the autobots, with the exception of Bumblebee, were gathered there talking amongst themselves.

Ironhide and Victoria remained on the outskirts of the group for a moment before Optimus approached them, Victoria still couldn't get over just how huge the autobot leader was, even sitting on Ironhide's shoulder she still had to look up at him. Thankfully she was getting use to it, she still couldn't help but feel impossibly short but she was getting use to it. As the leader drew nearer Ironhide looked to him.

"Ratch told us bout headin' to NEST, somethin' bout an attack, how bad was it?" the black mech asked.

"Not as bad as it could have been, they suffered a few casualties and a decent amount of structural damage." Optimus replied.

"So how long we gonna be there?" Ironhide asked as the redhead on his shoulder shifted a bit, he looked over to her to be certain she wasn't slipping before looking back towards Optimus.

"I'm not sure, we may be there until this whole situation is done with." the leader said "But I've been promised that we will not have any repeats of the problems that occurred last time, Galloway seems to have backed off a bit, for now at least."

Ironhide gave a small huff at that "He better have, any of his boys point a gun at me again and they'll be problems."

"Ironhide. . ." Optimus said with a sigh.

"What? Just sayin'. Besides, we're gonna have Vic with us, bad enough she's already wrapped up in this, don't need human guns gettin' pointed at 'er." Ironhide said, the redhead couldn't help but give a small smile, shaking her head a bit. He was so protective, then again she supposed he had a reason to be, before he was just her guardian but it just wasn't that simple anymore. They remained and spoke for a while, Optimus was busy making sure everything was in order before they left, Ratchet was taking inventory on the equipment he needed to bring, Jolt was helping the medic and Sideswipe was busy keeping the twins from starting a ruckus as they normally did. After a while the time to depart was finally upon them and they moved outside. Ironhide placed the redhead on the ground once they were near the warehouse she had been staying in before transforming into his alt mode and activating his holoform to help her get her bags in his cab, he then helped her into the passenger side before the holoform got into the driver's seat and they began to leave.

The line of autobots as they made their way onto the road leading from their home made for quite a mismatched vehicle lineup, at the front was the blue and red rig that was Optimus, behind him was Ratchet's rescue hummer form followed by Jolt, Mudflap, Skidz, Sideswipe and then Ironhide at the back, were she not so use to the vehicle modes she would find the lineup rather humorous. The redhead looked over to Ironhide's holoform as she gave a small smile before the sounds of the com link, which Ironhide had routed through his speakers so Victoria wasn't left in the dark during the trip, began, the first to speak up was none other than Sideswipe.

"OK, why's everyone so quiet? You guys are going to drive me crazy if you're all this quiet the whole trip." Sideswipe said as the cleared the woods surrounding the small base.

"Yo man, don' start yo bitchin' a'ready." Skidz responded with.

"Yea man, don' wanna put up wit dat tha whole trip." Mudflap added.

A bit of an annoyed grumble came over the com as Vic saw Sideswipe speed up just slightly and bump Skidz.

"Hey, don' yo be rammin' inta me!" Skidz almost yelled.

"You asked for it." Sideswipe shot back with.

"Will you stop it, we haven't even gotten three miles from the base for Primus sake!" Ratchet came over the com before it went quiet for just a moment then Sideswipe spoke up once more.

"So Vic, think you're going to be able to stand riding with Ironhide all the way to the NEST base?" Sideswipe asked though the redhead figured that, since she was unable to really respond, he had really just asked that to pick on Ironhide.

"Don't make me ram you Sideswipe." Ironhide responded with.

"You wouldn't." Sideswipe said with a bit of a teasing tone.

"You sure bout that?" Ironhide asked him.

"Good point." Sideswipe replied. Victoria couldn't help but give a small chuckle and shake her head a bit, she could already tell this was going to be a rather amusing trip.

* * *

The trip had been a long one but she couldn't complain of the company nor the entertainment which came from the com link routed through Ironhide's speakers much of the time during the trip. She had just been woken up from her nap and had still not yet sat up in Ironhide's back seat when she felt his holoform sweep her sleep tossed hair out of her face.

"We're there Vic, it's time to get up." he said as the redhead finally pulled herself upright. She smiled to him a bit before looking out the window as they slowed to a stop next to a rather large hanger, she glanced about the area, she was here, actually on a military base, Victoria couldn't help but sigh as she saw troops lined up and knew she would have to put up with being around so many constantly though she half planned to just stay around the autobots when possible.

The others ahead of them started transforming into their bipedal forms and she glance back to the holoform, giving a small nod before moving to get out the back seat. She had to stretch her legs a bit before moving to pull her bags from Ironhide's cab though his holoform quickly moved to help her. Once her bags were free from his cab he deactivated his holoform and transformed as well.

Some of the troops were staring while a few others were simply relaxing, she looked up to Ironhide as he bent down to pick her up, she climbed into his hand and took a seat before he lifted her in one hand and simply grabbed her bags with the other. They moved towards the large hanger they would be staying in, waiting within was Will and Epps who greeted them, they spoke with the autobots for a while, telling them the situation and a recount of what had happened. After a while they all relaxed a bit now that the briefing was out of the way.

"It's nice to have you guys back here." Epps said once the initial professionalism was out the way.

"Glad to see you missed us." Sideswipe said with a smile, this served to get a chuckle from Epps an Will before Ironhide spoke up.

"Sorry to break up the reunion, but where's Vic gonna be stayin'?" the black mech asked as the redhead in his hand looked to those standing below.

Will looked up to Ironhide before he spoke "There's a room set up for her in the next building, it's nothing like what she had at your complex but it's private."

Ironhide looked to the redhead sitting in his hand a moment as his fingers curled ever so slightly around her, Victoria put her working hand on his index finger and gave a small, unsure smile before Ratchet pulled their attention.

"No offense Will but considering the circumstances, is there any way something could be set up so she could remain in the same building as us?" the medic asked.

"I guess that wouldn't be too hard to do if that's what you all rather." Will answered and Victoria could see a slight look of relief from Ironhide.

"Good, they'll be after 'er, better for her to stay close to us." the weapons specialist said before finally setting down the redhead and her belongings.

"Alright then, we'll see about getting that set up then." Will said before smacking Epps on the arm and motioning for him to follow as the two men made their way out.

Victoria saw Ratchet look towards Ironhide, the medic had a bit of a smirk on his face, Ironhide must have also noticed it "What are you lookin' so smug bout?" he asked the medic.

"You know exactly what Ironhide." Ratchet responded before saying something in cybertronian.

The redhead had no idea what the medic just said but she did know that whatever it was caused the others to look at the weapons specialist as well as made Ironhide glare at Ratchet. Victoria kind of shrunk back in her guardian's palm as an awkward silence filled the room though it was short lived.

"Wait what?" Sideswipe was the first to speak, the silver mech had a look of pure disbelief on his face.

At this point the twins were snickering, Jolt was staring at Ironhide with an optic ridge raised and even Optimus looked slightly surprised. The redhead could take a guess at what might had been said based on their reactions and couldn't help but feel just a little uneasy right now.

"Are you serious?" Optimus asked as he looked back towards the medic, Ratchet just nodded with that smug knowing look on his face again which was enough confirmation for the redhead in regards to just what he had said.

"Why couldn't you just keep your trap shut Ratchet?" Ironhide asked sounding a bit irritated as the redhead shifted slightly, she couldn't help the small blush she felt creeping onto her face at this point.

"There's no reason to be secretive about it Ironhide. It is not like any of us would be angered by it." the medic responded.

"Yea, surprised maybe but not angry. When did this happen?" Sideswipe asked.

Ironhide gave a small huff as he brought the redhead up to his shoulder and allowed her to climb up and get her grip before he answered "Not long ago."

"Well then, I'm not sure how the humans will take to such a relationship but you won't have any problems from any of us, well, from me at least." Jolt spoke up before Mudflap and Skidz nodded in agreement with him.

After a while they all got over the initial surprise, or amusement in some cases and were beginning to settle some, they were pretty much just sitting around now and relaxing after the trip there. Sure enough it hadn't even been a full hour and the twins were at it again, thankfully Sideswipe seemed to be keeping them at least partially in line for the time being. Victoria had decided to perch herself on a nearby crate next to where the weapons specialist was seated and watch the others conversing. She felt so left out right now since she couldn't even sign as she normally did. After a while she felt a nudge at her shoulder from Ironhide's finger.

"You're bein' quiet." he said to her.

The redhead sighed, giving a small nod as she brought up her good hand 'Can't say much.' she spelled out before hearing a huff from Ironhide.

"Though you said somethin' like that wouldn't break you." he stated.

'Call it a minor setback.' she spelled out before looking down at that scarred arm of hers, she was really hoping that Ratchet would be able to finish that device for her arm soon, she didn't know how much longer she would be able to stand not being able to use it. Her arm just hanging there limp and useless was maddening even if she couldn't feel it, sure a normal person would have trouble coping with something like this but it was even worse for her since her communication was almost gone as well for the time being. She gave a heavy sigh as she soon felt a hand wrap gentle around her back, she smiled slightly and looked up towards Ironhide before leaning against his hand a bit and finally relaxing herself.

"Will you two stop bein' all mushy 'n stuff ova dere?" Mudflap called out to Ironhide and the redhead and thus earning himself a glare from both of them.

Victoria looked for something to throw, she was in luck as there was some metal, something, she didn't know what it was sitting on the crate and within her reach, she smirked a bit as she grabbed the metal thing and nudged Ironhide's hand with her good elbow, lifting an eyebrow at him inquisitively as she held the potential projectile. Ironhide seemed to catch on rather quickly if the smirk on his face was anything to judge by.

"Be my guest." Ironhide said before Victoria looked at Mudflap with a wicked grin and hummed the metal piece right at his head, he ducked, barely, but he ducked before going into a cussing fit which just made Ironhide chuckle a bit before the black mech looked over to the redhead "You missed." he said.

Victoria gave a soundless chuckle of her own 'Need practice.' she spelled out as she saw Mudflap start pestering his twin again. He should have known by now that the redhead didn't make empty threats and that she would throw something at his head if need be.

* * *

It had been a week here and she still couldn't sleep soundly, the new area, sounds she wasn't use to, the cot had been less than comfortable so she had migrated into Ironhide's back seat which was certainly more comfortable but she was still restless. After a while she gave up on sleep all together, figuring her insomnia was kicking in again and just laid there staring up at the roof of her guardian's cab, though in truth it wasn't just insomnia, Ratchet had finished the work on the exoskeleton for her arm and was going to be performing the procedure to attach it today so she was certainly nervous about that which only added to her inability to sleep. She hadn't even realized Ironhide's holoform had activated until she saw it begin to climb into the back seat. The redhead sat up so he could sit behind her before just laying back against him as his arms came to wrap around her.

"Still can't sleep?" he asked though she knew it was a rather rhetorical question, she just sighed, giving a small nod. She was nervous and it likely showed as his arms tightened around her a bit.

Victoria closed her eyes for a moment and brought her good hand up to grasp the holoform's forearm with a slight squeeze. "It's six in the morning already, it'll be over in the next three hours." Ironhide said to her, he was trying to comfort her and she knew it but she was still rather nervous about facing any kind of surgery. She simply laid there in his arms for the longest time, his presence was oddly comforting even if he didn't say anything more, it was a feeling she wasn't use to, the feeling of being safe and protected, but it was something she certainly couldn't complain of and something she'd rather not be without again.

After a while the others woke and began moving about yet she and Ironhide still simply sat there for the time being, watching the others transform and move from the hanger, the redhead gave a slightly random half chuckle. The holoform looked down to her and tilted his head slightly "What's so funny?" he asked but the only answer he got from her was a grin. He just raised an eyebrow at her "You know, sometimes I worry bout you." he commented with a slightly joking tone.

The redhead brought her good hand up to fingerspell 'You should.' before giving a silent laugh. She saw Ironhide just shake his head before his alt form rocked slightly as if he had just been nudged and, sure enough, when they looked they saw Ratchet's legs outside the window.

"Looks like it's time, couldn't he had just slaggin' said somethin' instead of pushin' on me?" Ironhide said as the redhead sat up and moved to get out, the holoform helping her out before vanishing and Ironhide transformed into his true form.

Victoria looked up at the medic a moment before giving a heavy sigh. "The procedure area has been prepared, if you're ready." the Ratchet said. Victoria just nodded as Ironhide leaned down to lift her from the ground. They made their way to the building that served as the med bay here, it was a good bit larger than the one back near Tranquility had been but just as spotless and smelled of sanitization chemicals. Ratchet motioned towards a sectioned off area in the med bay "I have set up for the procedure over there, just set her on the bed." the medic said as he folded down into his alt mode and activated his holoform.

Ironhide moved to set her down on the bed, he looked to her for a moment before running a finger down her limp left arm "You better take care of 'er Ratch." he said looking to the medic's holoform as it walked up to the area.

"Don't worry Ironhide, your spark's desire is in good hands." Ratchet said with a bit of a smirk, the statement served to make the redhead blush a bit as Ironhide shot the holoform a glare though the expression softened rather soon as he looked back towards the nervous redhead.

"I'll be waitin' outside when you wake up." he said to her before stepping back and looking towards Ratchet's holoform once more "You lemme know the moment she comes to."

"I will Ironhide now go on so I can work, and don't mess with anything on your way out." Ratchet said getting a huff from the black mech as he turned to go wait outside. The medic turned back to Victoria motioning for her to lay down which she did with some hesitation. She was scared, she always hated surgery but she knew that if she was going to regain her ability to communicate that she needed to push back the fear and get this over with. After all Ratchet had cared for her when she was in a coma, the mech had saved her life already so she had to give him at least some level of trust for those reasons alone, but that didn't stop her from being afraid of the procedure itself even if it did make it a little easier to cope with. Ratchet must have been able to tell just how nervous she was because he soon gave a slight smile, the kind one gives when they are trying to comfort someone.

"It will not take long Victoria, you won't even be aware it is occurring, due to your phobia of needles I am going to use fluoromethyl hexafluoroisopropyl ether to render you unconscious before beginning, sleeping gas essentially. Don't worry, you won't feel anything." he said as she laid on the operating table, he had gone through the specifics on the operation with her before because she had wanted to know exactly what was going to be done if it was going to be stuck on her arm and knowing what was going to happen was somewhat of a relief. After a moment she left out a heavy sigh, nodding to him to signal she was about as ready as she was ever going to be. With that confirmation Ratchet moved to place the gas mask on her face and turn on the valve, a strong, sweet scent overcame her senses for a moment before she began to feel very light headed, vision blurring before everything around her faded to darkness.

* * *

She had just come to and though the redhead had tried to sit up Ratchet had put a hand on her shoulder to stop her, she looked over to him to see he was shaking his head with a slightly amused look on his face at her eagerness to get off that damned bed. He sighed when she tried to shrug his hand off best she could, she wanted to see her arm and test it out, she may have just became fully aware once more but she was aware enough to think of it.

"Let the effects of the anesthesia wear off first Victoria." he said to the over eager redhead who just sighed in response and rolled her eyes at him before relaxing back on the bed as the medic moved to finish cleaning up the area. While he wasn't looking however she moved to sit up once more, managing to do so before he was able to stop her "Stubborn." he said to he and she just gave a guilty grin in response before looking down at her arm.

Sure enough the dark metal exoskeleton was in place on her arm, a low profile wide cuff like piece covering where Ratchet had told her it would be attaching to the nerves underneath, the cuff piece was meant to protect the area since it was the most sensitive and venerable part of the device, the metal was partly fused with her skin to be sure it would not move out of place. Coming down from the cuff was a small network of low profile yet somewhat wide bars connecting to a joint on each side of her elbow before continuing down to the complex joints at her wrist. Something of a guard plate covered the top forearm of the scarred arm as thinner metal bands wrapped around the bottom of the arm. The hand was the most complex of course, low profile plating came over the top of the hand with a band wrapping around her palm, the plating over her fingers and thumb looked almost like long scale segments designed to move over one another smoothly, a small band wrapping under each segment of her fingers, that part reminded the redhead of those armor ring she had seen in the past but on every finger and sans the pointy tips. It had a little bulk to it of course but it wasn't too bad, for the most part Ratchet had managed to keep the design pretty low profile yet considerably steady, he had used cybertronian metal to insure it's durability, as he told the redhead he found earth metals rather flimsy in comparison. The exoskeleton looked a bit like some odd kind of jointed armor to the redhead and was made to fit like a glove even if there was a little bulk to it.

"Well, go ahead and try it out, need to see if it works." Ratchet said pulling the redhead from her observations, she nodded before looking down and trying to flex her hand, at first nothing happened so she tried again, this time only the smallest movement came from it, the medic was watching as she tried to work the arm "It needs to calibrate to the nerve impulses, keep trying." he said, the redhead gave a small nod and continued the attempts, each time it moved just a little more as the exoskeleton's systems calibrated to it's host.

"Just keep at it, I am going to let Ironhide know you are wake." Ratchet said as the holoform disengaged and the medic transformed into his true form before moving towards the door. Victoria kept on trying to move that hand and she was making progress but it was slow, she was managing to get the fingers to curl now even if she wasn't yet able to fully close her hand. She looked up hearing Ironhide walk back in with Ratchet as the two mechs made their way to her. Ironhide kneeled down once he had gotten near and looked over her and at the exoskeleton on her left arm.

"Is it workin' for you?" he asked, the redhead gave a small half shrug as she tried to close the hand once more, almost succeeding in the task this time.

"It will take a few hours to calibrate, but it is reacting so that's a good sign." Ratchet informed Ironhide, the black mech nodded at this as the redhead continued trying to get the hand to react, after a while she finally got it to close all the way though it was slow moving it was a start, she repeated the action a few times before giving a small smile.

"She clear to leave the med bay Ratch?" Ironhide asked the nearby medic who nodded.

"Yes, I do believe the anesthesia has worn off enough, once it is fully out of her system I would imagine controlling the exoskeleton will be even easier for her." Ratchet responded with, the redhead looked towards the neon yellow mech and signed thanks to him, he just nodded in reply.

Victoria stood from the bed, she was still slightly groggy but nothing too serious though she couldn't help but notice the weight on her left arm now, sure it was a pretty low profile device but it wasn't exactly light weight, she brought her right hand up to the shoulder the weight was effecting and rubbed it slightly, trying to adjust to the added few pounds on the arm. She was sure she would get use to the weight in time, after all it was new to her so of course she was going to notice it for the time being. She looked up as Ironhide offered a hand to her, she climbed on using the left arm a little though still relying mostly on her right for the time being before he lifted her to his shoulder where she settled herself. They then left the med bay, after Ratchet reminding her not to strain the arm too much just yet of course.

What she saw once she and Ironhide stepped outside was quite a sight. Not too far from the med bay there was a circle of NEST members all dressed in their BDUs, right in the middle of the grouping were two men sitting on office chairs who appeared to be, well, jousting with mops if the redhead had to take a guess. She just tilted her head a bit at the spectacle as the two soldiers rolled towards each other with the mops poised, one knocking the other from the chair when they made impact. Victoria gave a silent chuckle seeing this.

"Yea, now you see what I was puttin' up with while waitin'." Ironhide said as the redhead just shook her head from amusement. These guys were on a military base for weeks on end, she really couldn't blame them for being a bit silly for a little stress relief.

She braced her feet against Ironhide's shoulder armor to keep her balance before bringing up both arms, the left moving slowly but she had to learn how to use it and there was no time like the present. 'At least you had free entertainment.' she signed slowly before regaining her grip on his shoulder, a smile came across her face, it was working, she had her arm back and thus regained her communication even if it would take some getting use to, the adjusting was well worth having her ability to properly sign back.

"Yea, I guess you could call it that." Ironhide said as he looked over to her a moment before a shout grabbed both of their attention. They looked towards the group of soldiers to see one of them was flat on his back while the others were laughing like mad. Ironhide just shook his head before beginning to carry the redhead towards the hanger the autobots were staying in.

* * *

She was getting use to this arm a small bit, it had only been a few days but she was able to sign with it even if she was still getting use to the added weight, overall it was a major improvement. She was currently standing at the shooting range with Ironhide, Will and Epps though she wasn't taking part in the target practice as Ratchet had warned against putting unneeded strain on her left arm until it was fully healed from the procedure. The range here was rather well outfitted and the targets were actually a good deal farther than those back near Tranquility.

The redhead stood leaned against a nearby wall watching the boys fire though her attention was more on Ironhide than the other two, she had to admit his weaponry was powerful then again that was to be expected, he was a weapons specialist for a reason after all. She looked forward as yet another of the targets was blown apart and couldn't help but give a small smirk before Epps caught her attention.

"So are you gonna just stand there and watch Vic? I know you need to let that arm heal but if you want you could use a handgun with your right arm." he offered, the redhead gave a small smile and nodded.

'You know, I think I'll take up that offer.' she signed to him before stepping forward as Epps grabbed a M1911A1 pistol and handed it to her.

"Watch the recoil on that, it has a bit of a kick." Epps warned her as she moved up to on of the booths.

Victoria looked over the gun for a moment before lifting it, trying to get the feel of the weapon as it was a bit lighter than the disruptor. She glanced over to Will who was also using a handgun to see how he was holding it though she sighed when she saw he was using both hands to keep it stable and she knew she wasn't supposed to be putting strain on her left arm just yet. She looked at the weapon in her hand once more a little uncertainly before shrugging and taking aim, not sure what kind of recoil to expect. She pulled the trigger and took the shot as she found out just what kind of kick that thing had, lucky for her it wasn't too strong but it certainly caused her elbow to bend a bit. She gave a short sigh before aiming once more, now she knew the kick the weapon had and could be ready for it. Taking aim again she braced herself for the recoil and took another shot, this time handling the recoil a bit better as her shot hit on the outskirts of the second ring from the bull's eye, it wasn't a great shot but it wasn't any stray either. She gave a small smirk before aiming again and getting a little closer to her mark this time though not by much. She continued firing, her rounds mostly staying near the center though not near perfect until she pulled back the trigger and heard a click signifying the clip was empty.

She took a step back to look for ammo to reload at about the same time Will had gone to reload his own weapon. "Not half bad for a civilian." he said as Vic took a seat and began refilling the clip.

'Thank you.' she paused to sign, thankful that a sigh that common was at least recognizable to many. She then noticed that Will was looking at the exoskeleton on her left arm, she looked at him and tilted her head a bit.

"Sorry but I have to ask, does that feel weird or anything?" Will inquired though the redhead simply shook her head in response before putting the now filled clip back in the gun.

'It's a little heavy but not too bad. Can't even feel most of the arm anyways, just where it attaches.' she signed before pausing with a silent chuckle forgetting for just a moment that Will likely had no idea what she just said, this only confirmed by him getting Ironhide's attention so Victoria could repeat the statement and the weapon's specialist interpreted what she said to Will.

"Oh, I would think it would be, but hey, at least it works and you can use your arm again." Will said and Victoria nodded before standing and moving to the booth once more.

Will moved to reload at this point as Epps finished up a round of firing and stepped back "So man, I heard the guys created a new sport the other day, mop jousting, man I'll tell you, some of the things some of these guys come up with." Epps mentioned with a bit of a chuckle.

"Is mop jousting really any better than when one of the guys took to trying to climb Optimus or anyone else they could sneak up on?" Will responded with a quirked eyebrow before giving a small laugh himself, the comment also served to get a huff from Ironhide.

"I remember that, tried to climb up me once, I ain't no jungle gym." the black mech commented.

"Aw, you mean you wouldn't even let one of us climb up you?" Will asked with mock disappointment.

"I ain't lettin' no one climb me." the weapons specialist replied with as he stepped back from where he had been firing from.

Victoria couldn't help but smirk at that ~Oh really now?~ she thought before switching the safety on the pistol she was using and moving to hand it to Epps, she held up her finger as if to say one moment before walking right up to Ironhide with that smirk on her lips as she put her hands on her hips and cocked one hip out to the side a bit just looking up at Ironhide, the smirk becoming a mischievous grin.

"Don't even think bout it." Ironhide said to the redhead as she heard small snickers coming from Will and Epps.

'Too late.' she signed before making her way towards Ironhide's leg and beginning to climb up, putting most of her weight on her right arm so she didn't strain her healing arm too much. Laughter burst forth from the two men sitting not far from them as she made her way up managing to get almost to Ironhide's midsection before she felt his hand against her back almost as if making sure she didn't fall despite the fact that he had said he wouldn't let anyone climb up him. She kept going upwards and was soon perched on his shoulder with quite a smug look on her face.

Ironhide looked over to her, shaking his had a bit "Just had to prove me wrong, didn't you?" he said.

'Of course I did.' the redhead signed before placing her right hand on one of the horn like protrusions coming from the weapons specialist's head with a small smile. She then looked down to the laughing Epps and Will as they started to regain their composure.

"Man, remind me never to tell her not to do something, she'll do it just to spite me." Epps said once he had stilled his laugher.

"She's stubborn, what else you expect." Ironhide responded with before getting a light shove to the side of the head from the woman on his shoulder.

'Like you have any room to talk?' she signed with a smirk, this just got a sigh from her guardian.

"Didn't say I did, but it don't change the fact you're still stubborn." the black mech stated, looking right at her.

The redhead looked down to see Epps had moved to reload his weapon and she knew Will couldn't understand sign language so she was safe to make her next statement. 'Maybe, but would you really have me any other way?' she signed and though Ironhide didn't respond that smirk on his face was enough of an answer.

The redhead just stayed perched on Ironhide's shoulder now, she had enough shooting for the time being after all guns weren't really her thing, sure they were great weapons but melee was what she loved which she couldn't help but find funny seeing as she was with Ironhide who's main focus was long range weaponry, but then again couples couldn't always have the exact some interests, it would get boring far too quickly if there weren't some distinct differences to mix things up a bit. Though they already had enough differences as it was but differing interests were also a good thing to have in some cases. They stayed and spoke with Will and Epps for a while longer before the two were called to deal with someone called Galloway who had just arrived on the base, the mention of the name alone got a huff from Ironhide though the redhead didn't yet know why.

* * *

Her curiosity got the best of her, when Ironhide had went to speak with Optimus the redhead had decided to move towards the area Will and Epps had gone to, of course she fully intended to keep out of sight if able. Sure enough once she got near she started hearing someone fussing, she looked around the corner to see Will and Epps being confronted by an older man who sounded quite upset and, if she had to be honest, had a rather annoying voice, the again anyone's voice could be rather annoying if they were fussing.

"So you mean to tell me that you have some kid here with a piece of the allspark in her throat and you plan on just keeping her on a base out in the middle of nowhere after the decepticons have already made an attack here?" the old man almost shouted, the redhead couldn't help but roll her eyes, there was no reason to be that loud about it.

"She's been staying with the autobots for a few months, you should know by now that it's safest for her to be where they can help keep the decepticons away from her, it won't do any good if she's in some facility two-hundred miles away." Epps stated.

"Why don't they just surgically remove it from her throat? I'm not about rest the security of this country on someone not wanting to perform surgery to get the damned thing out of her." the older man said, the redhead kept herself hidden for the time being, simply listening though her fists had balled at this point, she didn't like this guy already, he seemed too full of himself.

"It can't be removed, the doctors have looked at it, it's wrapped up in an artery." Will informed the man who then straightened his tie a bit, seeing this got an eye roll from the nearby redhead, she could tell when so called professional types were preening.

"Well then, if that's the case then I guess I'll just have to take her into custody as government property." the man said. That was it, Victoria was not about to let herself be spoken of as if she was an item, the redhead stepped out from her hiding spot, fists balled and an expression on her face that would convey to just about anyone that she wasn't messing around. She walked right up to the small group, coming to stand almost right in front of the older man, due to her above average height she had to look down at him a bit, he was a pretty puny looking guy compared to the six foot one, wide framed redhead and she couldn't help but let a slight smirk pass her lips at this observation.

"Mr. Galloway, meet Victoria Marcus, she's the one you want to treat like government property." Will said, the redhead swore she could almost hear the smile in his voice as she kept that hardened glare on the one called Galloway, her left, exoskeleton covered hand was repeatedly loosening before balling into a fist once more, the redhead was not above intimidation tactics if she felt they were needed and in this case they very well may be, though it wasn't as if she couldn't back up her actions if needed.

Galloway took a step back as the redhead held that glare, that was exactly the kind of reaction she was hoping for, she knew people would still talk big but small actions like that spoke louder than words could ever "So you're the one with the allspark fragment in your throat?" Galloway asked, the redhead gave a small, stern nod as she took a slow step forward, nearing the older, smaller man once more, sure enough he took another small step back, she smirked at this, she was having the desired effect. "Well, I'm going to have to take you into custody, it's for your own safety, I'm sure you understand." Galloway said but Victoria just shook her head at the statement.

'Don't you worry about my safety, I can handle myself.' she signed before Epps interpreted for her. She couldn't help but notice Galloway staring at the metal exoskeleton on her left arm for a moment before he looked back towards her.

"Obviously not, I heard about your arm, next time you might not even come out alive. You're coming with me." Galloway said as the redhead stepped towards him once more, yet again he took another step back.

'If I get killed then that's on my hands, not yours, I know the risks and I accept them, unless you want to go skydiving over Egypt again I suggest you back off.' she signed, she had heard about what Will had pulled during the battle in Egypt and now she could see exactly why he had done it. Epps told Galloway what she had said though he left out the last part of her statement, even though he seemed to have fought off a snicker at it.

Galloway seemed to be getting a little bolder now as he pointed at her "You don't make the decisions here girl, I do and you're being taken into custody." he said as he made the biggest mistake so far, he poked her in the chest with that finger of his, the moment he touched her she balled her left, metal covered fist and flat out decked him full force. The older man didn't seem to have been expecting that and stumbled to the ground from the impact before the redhead looked to Epps.

'Inform him that I am indeed a civilian thus not under his command so he had no right to even touch me without my consent. Also let him know that the moment he touched me it became assault, the fact that I am female and he did touch my chest could be seen as sexual assault, the two of you are also witnesses to this. He wants to pull the law card then I can play that game too. I was within full legal right to strike him and if he pushes me I will press charges. Doubt he wants that on his record considering he is a government official.' she signed to Epps who then repeated most of the message even if he reworded it to sound like less of a threat, the redhead looked back to the older man as he stood, he looked rather upset and his hand didn't move from his cheek.

"Are you trying to blackmail me?" Galloway asked.

'No, I'm just letting you know not to push me, take that as you will.' she signed as Epps interrupted for her, after that Galloway stormed off, once he was out of earshot Will and Epps busted out laughing.

"You're good, damn Vic, I didn't expect that shit." Epps said as the redhead gave a chuckle of her own, bringing her hand up to her left shoulder.

'Hope I didn't put too much strain on my arm, but damn it was worth it.' she signed and Epps told Will what she had said.

"Worth it? I wish I could do that without facing a court marshal, man's a menace on this base." Will said shaking his head a bit "You're nuts Vic, you really are, but I think that's why you get along with most of us."

The redhead gave a small chuckle, shrugging a bit. 'So, think he'll be back any time soon?' she signed.

"Knowing him, he may be, really can't tell with that guy." Epps said.

'Well let's just hope not, anyways I'm going get something to eat, see you two later.' she signed as she moved towards the cafeteria to try and find something suitable to snack on, she had forgotten to eat yet again today and her stomach was starting to remind her that food was not optional.

....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 

**Author's Notes:**

_Yes, she can finally sign again, man writing when she had limited signing was hard, no even joking, I tried to pull it off but, well, I'm all for challenges but there's some challenges you don't wanna drag out y'know? This was a bit of an 'adjustment' chapter, getting use to the NEST base, traveling there, the arm thing, the Galloway decking. . . .OK, I simply HAD to have him get decked, I hated that guy in the movies but I knew the NEST members couldn't flat out deck him since he's technically a superior. Oh the wonders of being a civilian, any unwanted contact can be seen as assault and he did poke her in the chest, yes, Victoria can be a bitch and is not above blackmail if need be._

_So then, now that she's all adjusted and I got writing bout Galloway getting decked out my system, the plot can move on. Hope ya'll are enjoying it thus far and thank you greatly to those who reviewed so far, seriously, getting feedback is great, I like to know how I'm doing and where I need to improve. Anyways, next chapter the action kicks up again and it kicks hard, so be ready for it._

_And as always, till next time ya'll!_


	9. Fight for the right reasons

**ATTENTION: **

**If you dislike TransformerxHuman mushiness then I suggest you skip the first part of the first scene.**

** I know some dislike it so giving fair warning. **

* * *

She couldn't sleep yet again due to yet another nightmare, another forced memory of a battle she was never in on a world she would never see. Ironhide had also been awakened by her twisting and turning in his back seat and they had decided to get off the base, if just for a little while, to escape from the constant noise of the area that was present even in the late hours of the night. No one really questioned Ironhide on the way out and soon they were just a few miles from the base, close enough to call for backup if anything happened but far enough to not be bothered.

They had come to park near a small cliff side before Ironhide had activated his holoform and they moved to relax in the bed of his alt mode, just laying there propped up against the rear glass of his cab and looking skywards.

"The noise is really gettin' to you that much Vic? Or was it somethin' else this time?" Ironhide asked, breaking the long silence that had set in. The redhead sitting besides him looked over before she gave a small sigh. "Alright, I know you well enough by now, what is it?" he asked meeting her gaze, for once she didn't look away, she knew she had no reason to try and keep things hidden from him, not anymore at least.

'Honestly? It was another of those nightmares, this one was a lot worse than the others, before everything was out of focus, but this time I could see every detail, the screams, no matter what language they were in, I could hear the pain, it was a lot more vivid this time.' she signed, she hadn't told him why she couldn't sleep, she had actually blamed it on the noise but that hadn't been truth, she was only thankful she hadn't woken up coughing blood this time.

"Another of them? Well, explains why you woke up with your heart racein', I hate seein' you wake up like that." he said as he moved to get a piece of her hair out of her face, running his fingers down her cheek as he did so before letting his hand drop to his side once more. Victoria couldn't help but give a small smile at the gesture, for someone as strong as he was, no matter if he was in his real form or using his holoform, he seemed to have a gentle touch to her, at least when he wanted to.

'Don't worry, they don't scare me, I know I'm safe, after all, it's just a dream. Well, as long as we don't have a repeat of when the fragment first became active.' she signed before looking back towards the sky, watching as the sparse, thin clouds passed through the star filled darkness, she soon felt Ironhide's arm wrap under her back and he pulled her too him, she didn't resist and merely leaned against his holoform 'Was wondering how long it would be.' she signed.

"What do you mean how long it'd be?" he asked, the redhead smirked a small bit.

'Until you decided you wanted to cuddle.' she signed before hearing a chuckle come from the holoform, she smiled, she did love to hear him laugh or even chuckle, though she did wish she would hear him do so more often. Of course it was just how he was and she wouldn't want him any other way.

"I hardly call this cuddlin', course you can't say you mind it either way." he said, Vic just smirked slightly as she angled her head so she could look towards him, sure it was just his holoform, just a representation of him but it was in a sense a part of him and the best means of being able to sit like this with him. He raised an eyebrow at her seeing the smirk on her face before giving a small smile of his own "Alright you, I know that look, what are you plannin'?" he asked before he got his answer.

She didn't even bother signing, she simply brought her left, metal covered hand up to rest it on his cheek before her fingers slipped into his hair and pulled him closer as she shifted her body before capturing his lips against hers. He almost seemed surprised for a moment before she felt his holoform relax as he let into the kiss though after a few seconds she pulled back, a small smile on her face the a slight blush burning at her cheeks.

Ironhide then gave a smirk of his own before she felt his holoform's arm tighten around her, his other arm coming to the back of her head, his fingers twined into her hair as he pulled her right back into another though slightly harsher kiss, she didn't mind it a bit and returned the kiss with her own ferocity, wrapping her right arm around him with her left hand grasping his hair in return. After a moment Ironhide tugged them both down so they were no longer propped up but laying on their sides in the bed of his vehicle form, his arm tightened around her as he broke the kiss and locked his gaze with hers. His fingers released her hair as his hand slid forward and his fingers lightly traced along her jaw line. Not once did her eyes leave his as she tighten her embrace around him, bringing her left hand to rest on his cheek, a numb finger tracing down one of the holographic scars on his face.

"I swear Vic, nothin' is goin' to ever take you from me, I'll make sure of that." he said, that protective tone evident in his voice, the redhead smiled before moving to rest her head on his, their hold on each other tightened a bit at that as Victoria closed her eyes. Never in her life did she ever think she would be glad to have someone want to protect her as he did but now that it had happened she wouldn't trade it for anything in this world ,even if she could handle her own pretty well it was a great feeling to know she had someone who would be willing to stand beside her.

She kissed the side of his neck before he shifted onto his back, his arm remained around her and she brought her head to rest on his holoform's chest as they looked towards the night sky once more. After a moment Vic nudged him when she noticed something moving through the sky before pointing towards the item. Ironhide looked where she was pointing then began to sit up as the object grew closer, she saw his eyes widen just a bit as she sat upright as well.

"Vic, get on the ground and give me space." he said, the redhead nodded as she got to her feet and jumped out of his alt form's truck bed as his holoform deactivate. She got a decent distance back as the flaming object headed right towards them. Ironhide barely had time to complete his transformation before the object was upon them, it's shape quickly shifted and the next thing she knew a rather large cybertronian had slammed her guardian into the cliff face and activated a weapon of some kind. Ironhide's own cannons came online and, though he was pinned, he still managed to bring his left cannon up to aim at the attacker and opened fire without hesitation.

The larger cybertronian stumbled back a bit before aiming his weapon at Ironhide. "Soundwave is here for the girl, not you." the new cybertronian stated.

"You ain't touchin' 'er." Ironhide said before opening fire on the decepticon once more, Soundwave dodged one of the blasts before another met with his midsection, pushing him back just a bit more before he lowered his stance and discharged his weapon at Ironhide. The large blast hit the black mech with quite a deal of impact, the redhead could hear the growl come from him as he collided with the cliff side once more.

Victoria's eyes narrowed seeing Ironhide get hit and she went for the ever present sensor disruptor strapped to her thigh as Soundwave turned his attention to her and began to move closer. The redhead brought the disruptor up to aim before she saw Ironhide charging at the decepticon.

"I ain't done yet punk!" he shouted as he shoulder rushed the decepticon, sending Soundwave staggering once more, Victoria adjusted her aim to the decepticon's new position before firing the disruptor as Ironhide discharged both cannons, all three shots hit and Soundwave reeled back from the blindness and the impact of the blasts.

At that point Ironhide moved towards Victoria, scooping her up and placing her on his shoulder where she quickly got a good grip using her left hand, disruptor still held in her right. Her guardian began running, firing back at the decepticon as he did so "Hold on." he said as he dodged another shot from Soundwave, it seemed he had recovered from the blast from the sensor disruptor in only a few seconds unlike the others who took a minute normally. Victoria held on tightly, bracing herself with her feet to stay on Ironhide's shoulder as he avoided the shots. she brought the disruptor up once more, firing another three shots towards the decepticon. He reeled back once more when they hit and Ironhide took the opportunity to get in a few more blasts with his cannons. "You keep 'im blinded, I'll keep shootin' til the others get here." Ironhide said, the redhead nodded and gave a small smirk as she kept sending bursts of disruptor fire at Soundwave and Ironhide kept cannon fire going towards the decepticon near constant. He kept moving, circling a bit so Soundwave wouldn't be able to pinpoint their exact angle of attack and thus making it harder for him to return fire though that didn't stop him from trying, his shots either missed or were easy for Ironhide to sidestep. Victoria hadn't even heard the others arrive until she saw Sideswipe and Jolt transform, Jolt's electrowhips were out and Sideswipe had already extended his blades.

"Ironhide, get her out of here, we'll handle Soundwave." she heard Optimus's voice come from behind them, looking over to see him and the twins transformed and battle ready.

Victoria didn't spend too long looking to them however and she quickly began firing at the decepticon with the disruptor once more so he wouldn't regain his senses and fight back. Ironhide began backing away from the attacker, keeping cannon fire going as the others moved in. It wasn't until the other autobots got too close for him to continue that he ceased fire, Victoria sent one more disruptor blast towards Soundwave before she too stopped and Ironhide lifted her from his shoulder and placed her on the ground before transforming into his alt mode and opening the door. The redhead quickly got in and they began full speed towards the base.

"I hate runnin'." she heard Ironhide say as she holstered the disruptor.

'Trust me, you aren't the only one, mother fucker shot you, he's lucky all I had was this damned disruptor and not something damaging.' she signed.

"And you call me protective, I can take those hits Vic."

'I know you can but it still did some damage, just like you don't like seeing me get hurt, I sure as hell don't like seeing you get hurt either.'

"Either way, you did pretty good out there, made it a lot easier to hit 'im when he couldn't see."

'Just wish I could have done more, bitch shot you, he's definitely on my shit list.'

"Don't worry bout me Vic, Ratch can repair me."

'Besides the point.'

"Now ain't the time to argue."

'No, it's not, was having too good of a night with you to ruin it, well, more than it's already been ruined due to that deceptibitch.'

"I'll make it up to you."

'No need, shit happens, not your fault.'

"Who said I was gonna do if because it was my fault? I need a reason to spend time with you?"

Vic couldn't help but give a small smile at that 'Touché, now let's get you to Ratchet so he can take care of that damage.' she signed as they passed the gate to the NEST base.

"Plannin' on it." he said as he made his way towards the med bay, coming to a stop and letting Victoria out before he transformed into his true form. The redhead looked up to him, now that they were in the light she could see how much damage that one blast had really done. Whatever weapon Soundwave had it certainly was a powerful one as she could see dents and marring in his armor from it, she couldn't help but ball her fists at seeing the damage, she wanted to take a cutting torch to the decepticon for doing that to her guardian and if she ever got the opportunity to she would find some way to return the favor.

Ironhide looked down towards her before picking her up and placing her on his shoulder once more, when they entered the med bay they saw Ratchet was already in there, waiting for them with his arms crossed over his chest and a rather displeased look on his face.

"You leave the base not even notifying any of us and look what happens." the medic said, he sounded a bit agitated with them.

"We wanted some time alone alright? Without havin' to worry bout the twins or Sideswipe or anyone else makin' jokes. Didn't think Soundwave would decide to pay a visit." Ironhide stated, Ratchet gave a heavy sigh at that.

"How bad is the damage?" the medic asked as he motioned them inside.

Ironhide made his way nearer, taking a seat on the large metal table in the med bay before placing the redhead on the surface besides him and lightly placing a hand somewhat around her as she stood "Nothin' compared to what I did to that punk, Vic ain't got a scratch on 'er." he said.

Ratchet gave a small nod "Good, next time you two decide to vanish like that at least let me and Optimus know, we won't tease you about it at least." he said as he began looking over Ironhide's damaged armor "Well, I might tease a little, but you know I don't overdo it." he added as he looked over one of the worse areas of damage. Vic couldn't help but look over the damage herself from where she stood, she was glad that it wasn't too major and she didn't see any energon leaking which was something of a relief but she was still pissed that Soundwave managed to do such damage to her guardian, he was her significant other now, of course she was going to be protective of him even if he could withstand a lot more than she could and she felt she had every right to be protective.

* * *

Ratchet had barely even had time to finish repairing Ironhide when the call came, sirens went off throughout the base and troops started moving. Ironhide jumped off the table and looked back towards Victoria and Ratchet.

"Ratch, I'm goin' give backup, keep Vic outta harm's way." Ironhide said before rushing towards the door.

Victoria heard the heavy, agitated sigh come from Ratchet as the redhead looked towards him 'You know they'll need you out there, he just got repaired, he's not even fully recovered yet.' she signed.

"I know Victoria, but he is a warrior, you need to understand that, I know you're worried but. . ." he didn't even get the chance to finish the sentence when an explosion shook the med bay. Rubble burst forth through the newly made hole in the wall and Victoria barely managed to drop down in time to dodge a chunk of metal that was sent flying towards her. She stood and pulled the disruptor from it's holster, aiming towards the new opening as the dust settled and she saw Ratchet's saws come out.

"And what do we have here? Trying to hide are we?" came a female voice Victoria hadn't heard before. As the dust settled she saw a dark blue bot standing amongst the rubble with some kind of missile launcher in her hand, she looked to be slightly taller than Bumblebee, on her chest was displayed the decepticon symbol, that was all the redhead needed to see before she opened fire with the disruptor, the femme dodged it flawlessly. "So anxious to play!" she said before rushing forward only to be stopped by Ratchet.

"Victoria get out of here!" he shouted back to her before swinging his saw at the decepticon. The redhead nodded before jumping from the table onto a crate below and jumping from there to the floor. She glanced back a moment to see the medic get kicked and stumble backwards a bit, the redhead lifted the disruptor once more to open fire on the femme though she once again dodged the blast and turned towards the human before getting shot by Ratchet's laser weapon.

"Run Vic!" he shouted as he got to his feet and brought his saws to bare once more, taking another slash at the decepticon to hold her off. Victoria turned and ran from the med bay only to see the situation outside, the deceptions had made it to the base, gunfire was near constant as the NEST members tried to hold off the attackers, there were so many of them, more than she had yet seen, some of them didn't even look like they had alt modes yet by their bare appearances, the autobots had also made it back to the base and were currently engaged in battle. The redhead bit her lip slightly, she could run and hide or try to provide some kind of support as the NEST members were doing, she wouldn't run, she was done running, so she broke into a sprint towards one of the weapons lockers and swung up open, she took a quick glance over what was held within before holstering her disruptor and grabbing something that looked like a grenade launcher, she

swung it over her left shoulder. She was looking about for an area which would provide her with decent cover before she saw Sideswipe get thrown pass where she was standing and land on his back. It looked like she had found her first target as an armorless decepticon leap at the silver autobot.

Victoria dropped to one knee and lifted the launcher onto her shoulder, taking aim as Sideswipe tried to knock the attacker off of him, she made sure to aim high enough not to hit her friend before firing, the projectile hit the decepticon and staggered it enough for Sideswipe to be able to bring his left sword up and impale the protoform right where it's spark was. He got up and looked towards Vic.

"What the slag are you doing out here?" he asked.

'Saving your shiny ass by the looks of it, what's happening?' she signed after lowering the launcher.

"Soundwave got backup, that's what." he said before lowering his stance to face an incoming decepticon and activating the minigun on his back "Ironhide said Ratchet was watching after you." he stated before standing and charging at the attacker with his swords, aiming a strong slash right across the midsection and splitting the attacking bot in half. He glanced back towards the redhead as she finished reloading the launcher.

'We got attacked, some blue chick, he might need help in there.' she signed before hoisting the launcher up and slinging it over her shoulder once more, securing a belt of extra ammo for the thing to her waist while she had the chance.

Sideswipe nodded and retracted his blades "Then lets go give him a hand." he said as he made his way towards her, scooping her up in one smooth motion and changing course for the med bay, weaving a bit to avoid incoming fire, once they made it inside they saw Ratchet was still going toe to toe with the blue decepticon. Sideswipe set the redhead down before he charged forwards to help the medic, his swords extending once more as he made an upwards strike towards the femme which she avoided the brunt of, getting instead just a deep slash in her chest. "Vic said you needed a bit of help." the silver bot said to Ratchet as he ducked a kick from the femme.

"Never thought I would say it, but I'm actually happy to see you." Ratchet said as he brought his laser pistol up to aim at the decepticon.

"Save the sentimentalities boys." said the blue femme as she lifted her missile launcher and aimed at Sideswipe before firing, knocking the silver autobot back due to the close range impact before the medic opened fire once again, the laser bursts peppering the femme's side as something collided with the side of the building.

"The med bay won't take much more of this abuse." Ratchet said as Sideswipe got himself back upright, oh if only the medic knew just how right he was. Not a moment later another blast made contact with the outside wall, sending it crashing in as the building became unstable, Sideswipe moved to shield the redhead from the falling debris as the walls began to collapse around them, he took the brunt of the falling metal, the minigun at his back getting knocked off by a larger piece of the debris as the building came down around them. For a moment it was nothing but darkness, the sounds of the still raging battle echoing around them, it was just like in some of the nightmares that plagued her, for a moment it felt almost surreal and she wasn't completely sure if she was even awake or if she had been knocked out until she heard Sideswipe's voice.

"You alright Vic?" he asked, he sounded hurt but at least he was talking. She reached up to tap on his armor a bit to let him know she was fine, she may have suffered a few scratches from the ordeal, but she was alright besides that. "Good, was worried for a second." he said.

"Are the two of you alright?" Ratchet's voice came from outside of the rubble they were buried in.

"Yea, just get this junk off us." Sideswipe shouted back before Vic heard the sounds of Ratchet pulling pieces of the debris free, soon enough she could see light again and a few moments later they were free of the rubble, Sideswipe stood and looked where his damaged mini gun had fallen "Slaggit." he said under his breath before lifting Vic from the rubble so she didn't have to climb over it and setting her back on the ground.

"Good to see you're both alright, the decepticon got knocked into stasis lock by a larger part of the wall." the medic said.

'Good, one less to worry about.' she signed before looking around, the battle was still in full swing, it looked like NEST and the boys were winning though as there seemed to be less decepticons standing 'We're not out of the fire yet.' she signed.

"No we're not." the medic said before another blast hit near them, thankfully it was far enough away that none of the debris kicked up by it hit them.

The redhead looked around once more, there was no hiding, they would tear down the buildings themselves to get to her all because of that damned fragment in her throat, she shifted the launcher that was slung over her shoulder a bit 'They won't stop, we have to stand.' she signed, looking right at Ratchet knowing he was likely to protest but much to her surprise he didn't, he just nodded and looked towards the battle, his friends were still fighting, the redhead knew all of them had seen far to much of this war, as distraught as she had been when she first got involved in all of this, it was nothing now, nothing compared to what they had endured, what battles they had seen, she realized that now and she was through with feeling sorry for herself, this shard was in her neck, the decepticons would kill her to get to it, she didn't have time to feel sorry for herself for getting mixed up in this situation, it was time to fight, she might only be human but she was ready to start taking risks for the right reasons. She saw a decepticon had spotted them, it had began to charge towards them, Ratchet already had his laser pistol aimed and opened fire as the redhead dropped to one knee and raised the grenade launcher up, taking aim on the incoming threat and firing before moving to reload, she did so quickly and brought the weapon up once more, aiming a bit higher before sending a grenade towards the decepticon's already damaged chest, it hit it's mark, the spark chamber, and detonated on impact sending the would be attacker to the ground.

She reloaded and stood before beginning to sprint forwards, Sideswipe and Ratchet staying at her side, the medic was slightly in front of her so he could shield her if needed, the battle was all around them, enemies and allies engaged in hellish combat, soon she spotted Ironhide, he was contending with Starscream and looked a bit worse for wear at the moment, she gave a loud whistle to grab Ratchet and Sideswipe's attention before motioning towards her guardian and beginning in that direction, once slightly closer she saw Ironhide take a full on blast from one of Starscream's weapons. The redhead dropped to one knee again and raised the grenade launcher up, Ratchet moved to Ironhide's side to help him back to his feet while returning fire at the decepticon as Sideswipe crouched down protectively over Vic so she was shielded from anything that may come from behind or either side while leaving her free to open fire.

She leveled her aim on Starscream before she fired, the shot hit it's wide target in the shoulder and she moved to quickly reload, sending yet another grenade towards the decepticon's form as Ironhide got to his feet and began to pelt the dorito shaped enemy with cannon fire once more. The weapons specialist and Ratchet made their way towards Sideswipe and the redhead as another shot was sent forth from the launcher.

"Ratch, I told you to keep 'er safe!" Ironhide shouted over the sound of battle.

"They tore down the med bay, they'll tear the whole base apart to get to her, you know that." the medic responded between bursts of laser fire.

"Yea but you didn't have to bring 'er into battle." Ironhide near growled out.

"Will you two stop it? It's not like we had much of a choice alright?" Sideswipe said as he quickly stood and spun around to meet a charging decepticon with his blades, slashing through the unarmored attacker's legs with his left blade before impaling it with his right.

Victoria took aim once more and sent another grenade flying towards Starscream before reloading once more. She pulled her disruptor free with her right hand and leveled her aim on the decepticon, if she could keep him blinded then they could take him down, it was worth a shot at least. She sent three bursts towards Starscream, two of the three made contact and sent the decepticon reeling back blindly, Ironhide and Ratchet kept their assault constant as the redhead holstered the disruptor and brought up the launcher once more, firing once more in the time frame she had before she would need to blind him again, she saw the twins and Jolt also making their way towards the dorito, their weapons ready to go. She was in the process of reloading when a blast came from their left, Sideswipe moved to shield her and took the blast full force, sending the silver bot flying over her head and landing on the ground some twenty feet away.

Victoria looked towards Sideswipe and saw him laying still on his back, she clinched her jaw in anger as she looked back to where the blast had come from only to see that large, dark grey decepticon she faced the day she went into a coma, Megatron, standing there with his weapon still poised.

"The fragment girl, that's all I want from you." the decepticon leader said as Victoria heard Ironhide come to stand behind her, she could hear the hum of his cannons ready to fire.

'I only have one thing to say to that.' she signed.

"Oh" And what's that?" the decepticon asked before he got his answer in the form of being flipped off by the redhead before she brought the grenade launcher up to aim.

"Foolish girl." the decepticon said before Ironhide opened fire on him with both cannons, she too opened fire, sending a grenade towards the dark grey mech's midsection and moving to reload, she brought the launcher up once more as she saw Megatron discharge his own weapon, the blast aimed right towards her and her guardian as she felt that burning in her throat begin.

Everything seemed to slow, time felt like it had come almost to a stand still ~Oh no, not again.~ she thought as she felt the warmth in her throat spread, she felt like a heated wave had just coursed through her body as everything around her appeared to ripple, like a reflection on a lake surface would when a stone was thrown in, she didn't know what was happening but what she saw next astounded her.

The blast Megatron had fired slowed before reversing and being thrown right back towards the decepticon, Victoria could see that a look of shock on his face that mimicked her own before the blast collided with his chest, sending him flying back from the sheer impact, then her senses were overcome by a searing pain on the right side of her throat. She brought her right hand up to cover the pain as she tried to keep her eyes on Megatron through her pain blurred vision. She saw Optimus come into view at that point as Megatron recovered from his surprise at what had just happened. The decepticon stood and leapt into the air upon seeing Optimus closing in for an attack, he transformed into a rather odd jet, like the ones she had seen in her nightmares, and shot off into the sky, soon followed by the damaged jet that was Starscream's alternative form.

As the decepticons fled Optimus retracted his energon blades an looked towards the redhead, she tossed the grenade launcher she had been using aside as she stood and looked around, her hand still at her pained neck but the burning had subsided enough to be bearable. The remaining decepticons were fleeing as well, it seemed they had won this battle though the base was littered with rubble and bodies from both decepticons and the NEST members who were unlucky enough to get hit by enemy fire.

Ironhide's weapons powered down and he bent down to lift Victoria from the ground and place her on his shoulder. Optimus didn't even say anything, he just shook his head and looked over the battle torn area. The redhead looked behind her to see Ratchet was tending to Sideswipe.

"Don't worry Vic, he'll be alright, just got knocked around a bit." Ironhide said seeing her concerned expression, she looked towards Ironhide and gave a small nod.

'And you?' she signed.

"Just minor damage, nothin' that Ratch can't fix once he gets Sideswipe taken care of." he answered before Vic gave a slight, though somewhat forced smile and placed a hand on the side of Ironhide's head.

'Good, nice to know that dorito didn't do too much damage.' she signed.

"Dorito?" Ironhide asked with a raised optic ridge.

'Starscream, he looks like a damned dorito.' she signed with a small smirk, this got a slight half chuckle from Ironhide.

"Yea, now that you mention it, he kinda does. What about you? What happened just now?" the weapons specialist asked.

"That's what I would like to know." came Optimus's voice as he began to make his way towards them Vic couldn't help but give a sigh at that, seemed these was going to be a long discussion once everyone was tended to.

* * *

She hadn't left Ironhide since the battle had finished, Ratchet had gotten Sideswipe aware and standing once more and then moved to get many of the others repaired. The redhead was still sitting on her guardian's shoulder, her hand clamped around the dagger necklace that hung at her neck as she surveyed the area, it was a disaster zone. Many of the buildings were in rubble from the attack, some were still smoldering while there were a few which were still ablaze as the NEST members and less damaged autobots tried to douse the flames before they spread to any more ammo stores, a few had already gone off and sent stray shots throughout the area as it was. Victoria hadn't even noticed during the battle but the fight had left her full of soot and tiny pieces of debris had caught in her now tangled hair, she had managed to come out of the ordeal with only minor scrapes and scratches, thanks to her friends keeping near her and making sure nothing hit her directly. She owed Sideswipe for him taking that blast and she knew it, but right now she was just glad he was standing again and that the damage wasn't too serious.

Ironhide had kept shoeing Ratchet away when he tried to see to the weapons specialist's damage, telling him to worry about the others first until a swat to the back of the head, which the redhead knew didn't really phase him but still served to get the message across, got him to let Ratchet repair him. The medic moved Vic from her object of affection's shoulder and placed her on the ground before tending to the black mech, the redhead stayed near Ironhide's leg, a hand on the side of his calf so he would be constantly able to feel where she was without having to look down the whole time.

"Any idea what that was Victoria? I've seen very few weapons which are able to send a blast back towards it's source but none of them are even on this planet." Optimus asked, she hadn't even realized the blue and red leader had made his way back towards the group, she had to of been a bit preoccupied to miss his approach that was for certain.

'I'm as stumped as you are, I felt the same burning in my throat I had when the fragment took control of me, it's the only reasonable explanation.' she signed as Optimus lowered himself to one knee to be nearer to eye level with her.

"The allspark held many mysteries, self preservation was something it had displayed the ability to do in it's full form, it must have been reacting to the danger you were in and protected you as it would protect itself since you are currently the fragment's host." the autobot leader said.

'Wait, that doesn't make sense, Sam was able to shove it into Megatron's chest and no self preservation kicked in then from what you all have told me, why would it kick in now when it's just a small piece?' she signed.

"Actually it had attempted to protect itself to a degree by releasing waves of energy upon impact with the ground, bringing life to some of your world's previously inanimate electronic items that happened to be in range of it's. . .shockwaves, for lack of a better term." Ratchet said as he continued repairing Ironhide's damage.

"It ain't got enough strength to do that now, cause of how small that piece is, but it still had enough to send Megatron's blast right back at 'im." Ironhide added.

Optimus gave a small nod "It must have somehow known it only had the energy to repeal the attack and used what resources it had available." Optimus said as he stood once more.

'Known? You mean this damned thing in my throat has a mind of it's own?' The redhead signed upon hearing the leader's last statement.

"The allspark holds vast knowledge and the ability to use it though it is not truly sentient. It would be difficult to explain." the blue and red mech replied.

'Well, sorry to be blunt, but it's in my damned throat, difficult or not I think you should at least try to explain.' Victoria signed before Ironhide bent down a bit to place his hand on her back slightly.

"Vic, calm down, been too rough of a night to let your temper get outta control." her guardian said as the redhead brought a hand up to rest on his wrist, she gave a heavy sigh, he did have a point.

"If I knew how to explain it I would, but I fear that all I could truly tell you are theories, none of them confirmed beyond a doubt." Optimus told her, she just nodded at that, bringing her left hand to rub at her throat through the thick choker she had taken to wearing, for some reason it had grown rather uncomfortable even though the pain had subsided some time ago. She couldn't get the unpleasant feeling to stop and since NEST was already well aware of her situation she really had no reason to try and hide the glyph so she pulled the leather choker off and brought her feeling hand to her neck.

"Vic, there's another glyph on your throat." Sideswipe said from the side.

'You're fucking shitting me.' she signed hearing the silver bot's statement, Sideswipe just shook his head.

"No Vic, on the left side of your throat, there's a second glyph." Sideswipe said moving forward.

Ratchet looked towards the redhead upon hearing Sideswipe, he moved to finish the last repair on Ironhide before leaning down and looking to Victoria.

'OK, so what's this one say?' she signed with a small sigh before tilting her head so he could actually see it.

"It's the glyph for defend." Ratchet answered as he looked over her throat "There is no fresh scarring this time however, thankfully." he added.

"Defender, to be specific Ratchet." Optimus added as he also looked towards the new glyph on her throat, Ratchet took a second look and gave a small nod.

"You're right Optimus, I must have missed the thinner mark the first time." the medic confirmed.

Victoria gave a heavy sigh at that, bringing her head to a comfortable position once more 'Defender? Defender of what? This is fucking nuts, now I have two glyphs on my damned throat and after what happened last time, when I lost control, I don't even what to think what might happen this time.' she signed as she felt Ironhide scoop her up from the ground before placing her on his shoulder.

"I think we saw exactly what's gonna happen with this one, hopin' that'll be the extent of it, lest it didn't leave you in a coma this time." Ironhide said.

'Hopefully. At least I wasn't on autopilot this time.' she signed before placing a hand on one of the horn like protrusions on the side of her guardian's head.

"I am assuming you had no control over it correct?" Ratchet asked, the redhead just face palmed.

'If I had any kind of control of it do you think I would be so surprised about what happened Ratchet?' she signed.

"I suppose I've my answer then. You need to stay out of battle Victoria, both times that the fragment has done something this major you have been in danger." the medic stated.

"I asked you to keep 'er outta harm's way Ratchet." Ironhide said to the medic with a glare.

"I tried Ironhide but they brought the fight to us, this time was unavoidable I'm afraid." Ratchet responded with, this got a huff from Ironhide.

"I guess your right, can't hold it against you. I shouldn'ta left without 'er." Ironhide said.

'Look, I'm not a child, it's me they're coming after, they'll keep bringing the fight to us, I can't run, that just isn't an option anymore especially with what they pulled tonight, who knows how many got away and what their numbers are right now. I have to be ready to fight, stop trying to stop me from doing so, sometimes I won't have a choice, tonight proved that.' she signed before looking to Ironhide 'I know you don't want me to get hurt, but it'd be a whole lot easier for me to avoid getting killed it I didn't run, after all, it's easier for an enemy to shot you in the back while you're running than to shoot you when you're armed and aware of their attacks.' she added.

"Victoria, I hate to say it like this but you're human, you can't take anythin' near what we can." Ironhide stated.

'Neither can anyone in NEST, neither can Sam or Mikaela but they've all fought along side you in this war despite being human. Why am I barred from helping?' she signed.

"She is right Ironhide, she proved her ability in battle tonight. It may be best to give her an offensive weapon until this situation has passed, the sensor disruptor does serve it's purpose but the decepticons manage to corner her it will not do her much good to have them blinded when they already know where she is." Optimus said.

"Thought you didn't like the idea of sharing our weapons technology with humans and I won't let 'er get cornered, from now on she's stayin' right near me, I shouldn't of gone to provide backup, shoulda stayed with 'er." Ironhide said before glancing towards the redhead with an expression that told her he meant no offense.

"Under normal circumstances I would adhere to that policy, but these are far from normal circumstances." Optimus said "I trust you can design a weapon suited to her size and ability, you know what she can handle better than any of us."

'Let me stand besides you love, not behind you.' she signed to Ironhide, he looked to her for a moment, hazel eyes locked with blue optics in a mutual understanding before he just nodded and looked back towards Optimus.

"I got two ideas, a long range and a melee weapon, case she has no choice but to get close, though I'm hopin' the melee one ain't gotta be used." the weapons specialist said.

"Wait, you two are actually going to let her fight?" Ratchet asked with some degree of disbelief.

"She was doing pretty well for a human earlier, you saw that Ratchet, I mean come on man, she took out one of my tires in a spar back at the Tranquility base." Sideswipe said as he moved to stand besides where Ironhide stood with the redhead on his shoulder.

"I didn't know about that." the medic said before shaking his head and looking towards Victoria. "Are you sure you wish to take this kind of risk? This isn't like those reckless stunts on that motorcycle of your's." he asked.

The redhead gave a small nod 'It's time I started taking risks for the right reasons.' she signed, Ratchet sighed.

"Alright, you seem rather set in this decision, I just hope it's the right choice." the medic said, Victoria gave a small nod in response.

"I better start helping them get the base in order, a lot of the buildings got messed up so some supplies will need to be moved and into the buildings that didn't get the slag blown out of them." Sideswipe said.

Victoria looked over towards the silver autobot 'Thanks for saving my ass earlier.' she signed before she saw Sideswipe smile a bit.

"Hey, no problem, thanks for watching my back, made my work a lot easier." Sideswipe responded.

'Any time wheel feet.' she signed with a joking smirk.

"I'll keep that in mind tire killer." Sideswipe said with a smirk of his own, the redhead just gave a silent chuckle before the silver bot turned to help the NEST team.

She looked towards Ironhide to see he was looking at her with an optic ridge raised, the redhead just smiled and leaned over to kiss his cheek, making sure to have a decent grip on his shoulder so she didn't slip in the process. She resettled herself after getting a small smile from the black mech and let out a sigh, watching as Ratchet and Optimus moved to lend a hand with damage control.

'Well, I know one thing for certain.' the redhead signed.

"Oh? And what's that?" Ironhide inquired.

'After tonight I'm definitely going to sleep well.' she signed in reply, this got a small chuckle from the weapons specialist.

"Good, it's bout time you were able to." he said as he brought a hand up to his shoulder to run a large metal finger down the side of her head, she just smiled at the gesture before they move to lend assistance to the NEST members as well.

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

_I told ya'll the action was gonna kick this time didn't I? Yes, Soundwave decided to descend to the surface and decided to do so when Vic and Ironhide were trying to just spend some time together, talk about a mood kill eh? Yea, She certainly ain't happen about that and neither is her sweety. I think this chapter foreshadows just a bit but I ain't giving away my plans, you'll just have to wait and see now won't you? I'm trying not to make the Allspark's power too strong as it is a mere small fragment and she does have no control over it. The whole self preservation thing is just my take on it, a mere interpretation if you will. I know there isn't really anything to support that the Allspark has self preservation abilities but, well, it's a fanfic, it's plot and it, as with all fan based works, is ever so slightly AU. (Everything beyond the official stuff is at least slightly AU in my opinion so, umm, yea.)_

_Redhead got a fricking grenade launcher, I so had to just go with that weapon idea when it came to mind cause I could so see her grabbing something like that, she had to drop to one knee when firing because those things pack a kick and she ain't got the training to be able to fire one still standing upright, she'd have ended up on her ass if she tried that! Also, yes, consent has been given by Optimus for her to use an offensive cybertronian weapon, it only took how long? Of course it's going to be something small enough for her to wield that won't knock her on her rear every time she fires it, and the energon blade is a go for a melee fall back option._

_Anyways, I'm researching canon weapon types which may be realistic for the long range weapon, I wanna find just the right one that would work, not over powered not too weak to do anything, so the next chapter may take a little longer than my normal once every 5-6 days posting 'schedule' (Hate sticking to schedules, I can handle self imposed deadlines fine, but ain't one for set schedules) I would hazard to guess it'll not be longer than two weeks however._

_Anyways thanks to those who reviewed the last chapter and I hope you enjoy this one, if any of ya'll wanna see artwork I did for this story then check out this link: _

_http:// garnet-huntress. deviantart .com/gallery/#Benevolent-Renegade _

_And oh damn, I got long winded in this author's note didn't I? Sorry bout that!_

_Til next time ya'll!_


	10. I like our odds

**Attention:**

**If you do not like suggestive themes and TransformerxHuman pairings then you may want to skip scene three. **

* * *

They had helped clean up most of the mess over the last several days, much of the east wing of the base had been destroyed, the southern portion was badly damaged as well though the west wing seemed near untouched besides a few spots of minor to moderate damage but nothing bad enough to cause the buildings to be unstable. For the first time in almost a week they were able to relax, or at least they had the chance to, the redhead had far too much on her mind to even think of relaxing right now and the fact that the blue decepticon femme was in the base, even if she had been restricted to the brig, it still just didn't sit right with Vic.

She looked over to where Ironhide was working on one of the weapons he had planned to design for her. He was using his holoform for the time being due to the weapon's much smaller size. The redhead moved to walk up behind him, he seemed too preoccupied with building the weapon to notice her. She smirked realizing this and moved to run the fingers of her right hand down the back of his holoform's neck.

He didn't jump or anything, just reached back to place his hand over hers "I'm not that easy to sneak up on, but nice try." he said glancing back at her with a small smirk before giving her hand a light squeeze and going back to working on the weapon.

The redhead moved to stand at his side, looking over the work he had done so far 'So what kind of weapon is it?' she signed as she looked over the design of the frame, if was a rather long weapon, nearly the size of the launcher she had used but it had a slightly thicker design.

"A photon pulse cannon, a heavily modified version, makin' it small enough for you to use but still pack a punch is provin' difficult." he said as he moved a few of the pieces into place, the redhead leaned forward a bit to look over it some more.

'Think the recoil will be manageable?' she signed.

"It's why I'm makin' it a photon weapon, that disruptor you have is basically a photon displacer gun, it don't have that much of a kick. Ain't exactly the strongest weapon but it ain't nothin' to laugh at." he said, the redhead gave a small nod.

'I should probably leave you in peace so you can work on it without me bothering you.' she signed before beginning to turn to depart though she soon found Ironhide's holoform's arms wrapped around her from behind, pulling her against him.

"Now what makes you think you're botherin' me?" he said as he nudged her cheek with his own. Victoria couldn't help but give a small smile, bringing her right hand up to clasp behind the neck of his holoform before she felt him give a small nip at the side of her own neck.

The sudden clearing of a throat from behind them caused them both to go still a moment before looking behind them to see Epps standing there with an eyebrow raised "Am I interrupting something?" he asked as Ironhide let go of Vic, his holoform deactivating before he transformed into his true form nearby and they both turned to look at the new arrival, the redhead trying not to give a guilty grin.

"No, you didn't interrupt anythin'." Ironhide answered him, Epps just shook his head.

"That looked like something, alright, when did this happen?" Epps asked.

'When did our personal life become any of your concern Epps?' The redhead singed though her expression would show no anger, maybe slight agitation but she meant no offense with the response. They had done well with keeping their relationship hidden from the NEST members so far but she knew one of them was bound to either catch on or come up at a bad time and see one of her and Ironhide's more affectionate moments.

"Just keep quiet bout it alright Epps? You needed somethin'?" Ironhide asked as he stepped up to where Victoria was standing and lowered his hand to her for her to climb into before he placed her on his shoulder.

"Man, I won't say anything, well, except maybe to Will but he kind of suspects something anyways, you know us well enough by now Ironhide. Just was coming to chill, if you two don't mind." Epps said in response.

'Fine by me if Ironhide doesn't mind.' the redhead signed.

"Yea, I don't mind, just don't touch anythin' I'm workin' on." Ironhide said as he moved to take a seat on the floor, the redhead on his shoulder kept her grip and shifted with his movements to keep her balance on his shoulder, certainly the weapons specialist's shoulder wasn't the easiest place to sit but she had gotten use to staying up here by now and the fact she had rather good balance helped immensely.

Epps pulled up one of the nearby crates and took a seat himself before looking towards the redhead and Ironhide "That decepticon in the brig keeps getting restless, got any idea what you guys are going to do about her?" Epps asked though his tone was casual as if merely curious.

"I ain't got any idea, be better off if we just offlined 'er, one less enemy we'd haveta worry bout. But that's up to Optimus." Ironhide answered.

'You know, she probably knows something about the decepticon's plans, getting a little information couldn't hurt, knowing a bit more about what we're dealing with is always a good thing.' Victoria signed once she had gotten comfortable 'Anyone know what her name is?'

"She called herself Stormflux, but that's about all we've gotten out of her." Epps said, the redhead then looked to Ironhide as she heard him give a bit of a huff.

"Lemme talk to 'er, I'm sure I could get a bit more outta her." the black mech stated.

"Well, she's in the brig if you want to try, maybe you'll have more luck than we did. She's restrained but she still used her holoform to try and attack us." Epps said as he saw Ironhide stand "You plan to go now?"

"Yea I plan on goin' now." the black mech said as he brought his hand up to his shoulder for the redhead to climb onto but Victoria didn't move, she just sat there and looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "You're not comin'." he said seeing her expression.

'Like hell I'm not, I want to know what they're working on just as much as you do.' she signed, still not moving to the offered hand.

"I'll tell you what I find out Vic but I ain't bringin' you in there with 'er."

'You're worried about me getting attacked by the holoform, aren't you? Are you forgetting I was in the battle she got captured during?'

"I didn't forget, but in battle is one thing, no reason for you to take the risks when you ain't got to."

'What risk? If I go in there with you I know the holoform won't be able to get to me.'

"No it won't but that ain't the only reason."

'Really now? Then what are the other reasons?'

"Because you don't need to see me interrogate 'er."

'Is that what it is?' Victoria signed before pausing and looking down the where Epps was still sitting, he had just been staying quiet when they began arguing. 'Sorry Epps, but could you please give us a moment?' she signed to him.

"No problem, lover's quall, I go it." Epps said, earning himself a glare as he stood and left the room.

Victoria looked to Ironhide, meeting his gaze with her own 'That's it, isn't it? You don't want me to see the harsher side of you, you're worried I'll think differently of you, aren't you?' she signed to Ironhide.

"Maybe. You don't need to see all the sides of war Vic, it's bad enough you're determined to fight." Ironhide said, looked away from her slightly before she brought her hand to the side of his face to pull his head so he would face her again, she knew very well that he could resist it with no difficulty but he allowed her to do so anyways.

'I'm not exactly innocent Ironhide, you don't have to worry about scarring me for life, trust me, I already have my fair share of both physical and mental scars and it hasn't worn me down yet. You also don't have to worry about me thinking differently of you, it's not going to happen. No matter if you like it or not I am a part of this war now, you once told me you respected me, has that changed?' she signed.

"No, of course that ain't changed Vic, respectin' you is one of the reasons why I wanted to be with you, I know you been through a lot for a human, I don't see any reason to add more."

'Well, maybe you need to realize that I can take it, my body might be pretty weak, but my will is strong. No matter what I go through, how much I lose, what I see, I will never lose my fire. Don't you get that?'

Ironhide gave a sigh at that "I'm done arguin' bout it, just once will you listen?"

'Since when have I been known for obedience?'

"Victoria, no, alright, tell you what, after I go in there and find out what I can, if you still wanna then I'll bring you in with me, alright?"

The redhead gave a heavy sigh, it was a compromise but she knew he was doing so in a way that he could still guard her 'Forget it, just, tell me anything you find out alright? No fucking secrets, no trying to hide it from me to protect an non-existent innocence, I want to know what the fuck they have planned as it does involve something that is stuck in my throat.' she signed before finally climbing onto his hand and letting him place her on the floor, she looked up to him from where she now stood 'And Ironhide, do me a favor.' she signed.

"What?" he asked.

'Stop saying "for a human" towards me, our bodies are very different, yes, but beyond that, emotions are the same, at least from what I've seen. My species doesn't make me a lesser being.' she signed.

"I know it doesn't Vic." Ironhide said, bringing a large metal finger to run down the side of her head.

'Then stop using it to remind me of my frailty, trust me, this exoskeleton on my arm is enough of a reminder.' she signed.

"After I get back from talkin' to that decepticon, I wanna show you somethin'." he said before standing upright once again and beginning towards the door. Victoria just watched him leave, giving a small sigh, she understood him being protective in combat but she couldn't stand being emotionally shielded, she had seen a lot in her short time in this world, she just hoped she would be able to get him to understand that she could take seeing a bit more.

* * *

Victoria had been sitting in the room waiting for Ironhide's return, as she waited she had taken to looking over the details of the weapon he was fashioning for her, the design of the frame was so odd but it looked like she would be able to handle it, or least be able to handle holding it, firing it was going to be another story all together. She was too caught up in looking over the weapon to notice someone coming up behind her until she felt someone move to headlock her from behind, almost instinctively she moved to give a back kick to the attacker's kneecap and a metal covered elbow to the ribs, hearing an oof sound coming from whoever was behind her as they let go and she spun to face then, moving into a cat stance as she did so, ready to strike until she saw who it was that had snuck up on her. Before her stood Sideswipe's blond holoform, she relaxed her stance as he started chuckling before aiming to smack him in the back of the head.

"Hey, you already hit me twice, was the smack really needed?" he asked, still laughing a bit.

'Depends, you should know how jumpy I am, will admit you got me though.' she signed with a small smirk.

"Sorry, just, I couldn't resist, you seemed so focused on looking over that thing." he said motioning to the weapon frame on the table before his holoform vanished and she heard the sound of transformation from right outside the door, soon she saw Sideswipe roll in and towards her.

'You know, it's a good thing it was just your holoform.' she signed.

"Still don't feel good, but yea, no damage."

'Speaking of damage, how are you recovering from the fight.'

"Pretty much recovered now, Ratchet's still fussing at me to take it easy but when is he not fussing about something."

'Isn't that the truth. But at least he means well, annoying as it might be.'

"Annoying? He may mean well but I get a bit tired of having wrenches thrown at my head."

'Well, maybe he's just trying to knock some sense into you.'

"Oh, like you have any room to talk there."

'At least I admit I'm stubborn.'

"Yea, you do. So where's Ironhide? You two are normally pretty inseparable."

'He's trying to get information out of that decepticon bitch, Stormflux. He wouldn't let me go in with him.'

"He wouldn't? Well, I guess he had his reasons."

'Yes he had his reasons, bordering overprotective reasons to top it off.'

Sideswipe chuckled a bit at that "No wonder you two match up so well. At least I know he'll take care of you though."

'No wonder we match up so well? What do you mean by that?'

"Well, let's see, you're both stubborn, both protective of each other, you two bicker like an old couple even if you have only been together about a month. . ."

The redhead glared at Sideswipe at that, raising an eyebrow at him before signing 'Don't make me throw something at you.'

Sideswipe grinned at her "You wouldn't." he teased.

'Really now?' she said picking up a piece of discarded metal from the floor and tossing it at him with a smirk, though she didn't really throw it hard, she just had a point to make.

"Oh yea, and neither of you make empty threats." he said at he ducked the projectile with a slight chuckle "Anyways, I was wondering something, I have a bit of a prank planned, Galloway's going to be making another visit in a couple of days and I know about the whole business with him having tried to take you into custody. You up for helping me prank him? I know you decked him but still, guy has a few things he hasn't been paid back for."

Victoria would smile a bit at that 'Sure, what do you have in mind?' she signed.

"Well, you know that ballistics gel they use to take molds? I was planning on filling the interior of his car with it, the heat from the sun should make it set pretty fast, of course I don't want him to walk out and see me doing it. Mind being a lookout when I do it?" he asked with a grin.

'Sure, his reaction alone should be worth it.'

"Good, I'll be getting everything ready for it, I've been wanting to prank Galloway for a while."

'I don't blame you, guy's a douche from what I've heard and seen.'

"Oh yea. So, if I may ask. . ." Sideswipe began as he moved to take a seat on the floor ". . .How's things between you and Ironhide been? He's not driving you crazy yet huh?"

'It's been alright, the normal little spats but, well, it's worth it, anything worth keeping is worth working for after all.'

"His protectiveness is bugging you, isn't it?"

'Is it that obvious?'

"Yea, it is, Vic, he just wants to keep you safe, I know you act like you can take on the world but let him protect you sometimes. I'm glad he wants to keep you safe, you need it."

'I know Sides it's just there's a difference between being protective and being too protective.'

"Look at the stunts you pull, can you really blame him?"

'Not really but I know the risks when I take them.'

"Yea, but you still take them. Sure, you did well in that battle but I had to save you twice."

'Still sorry about that, I certainly owe you.'

"You don't owe me anything, I couldn't let you get squished."

'I do have to wonder why most of you seem so protective of me, except Jolt, I get the feeling he doesn't like me too much.'

"Jolt's like that towards everyone, takes some getting use to. I can't talk for everyone but I can't help but see you like a little sister, even if you are a pain in the aft sometimes."

'Hey now, don't make me puncture another tire. And I didn't know you saw me like a sister, I haven't really had family since. . .' she stopped mid sign, giving a small sigh at the thought though she looked up to Sideswipe and gave a small half smile.

"Don't feel bad Vic, I haven't even seen my twin in vorns, I just hope he's alright."

Victoria tilted her head slightly 'You never mentioned that you had a twin.'

"I thought I told you. Yea, I do, his name is Sunstreaker, we use to pull pranks on everyone else all the time before we got separated, reminded them that it was OK to laugh even in a war. We both went with different parties to look for the allspark, thinking it wouldn't be too long until we found it but soon enough our twin bond went still, too much distance can do that, the. . .the other's death can too." Sideswipe's face saddened a bit at the last part of his statement, his optics lowering to the floor "I refuse to believe that he may be dead though, I can only hope he's still out there, just taking a while to make it here. We're all we had left when the war tore our family apart. If he does show up I think the two of you would get along."

'I hope you find out if he is alright soon. I never had any actually siblings, closest I ever had to a sister was Sara, but you know what happened.'

Sideswipe nodded "Yea, let's not dwell too much on the negative, I know how hard losing her hit you."

'Yes it was difficult, still is to be honest, but I use that pain as a drive, a reason to keep fighting, it's the only way I can cope with it.' she signed as she heard heavy footfalls near the door, she glanced over to see Ironhide walk back in, he had a considerably serious expression on his face as he made his way towards them.

Sideswipe looked back and nodded to the weapons specialist "Hey Ironhide, everything went alright?" the silver autobot asked.

"Hello Sideswipe, and I guess." Ironhide responded with as he came to stand near the redhead, lowering a hand so she could climb on before setting her on his shoulder.

Sideswipe moved to stand as he looked towards the taller black mech "Want me to leave?" he asked.

"Would rather you did." Ironhide answered. Sideswipe gave a small nod before turning to leave the room, closing the door behind him. At that point Ironhide looked towards the redhead on his shoulder, his expression softened just slightly but still held a rather serious quality. "I already let Optimus know, he's gonna brief the others. They finished what they were workin' on, it's a device to bring back the Fallen, the only thing they need is that fragment. They got a base set up on Earth, in Australia, that's where the device and the Fallen's remains are." he said, giving a small sigh before continuing "If we don't go and destroy it they'll keep comin' after you, if we do go then we either ain't gonna have enough here to protect you or we bring you with us and risk them gettin' their hands on you."

'I see, so basically it's a damned if you do, damned if you don't situation. Destroying the device and getting that guy's body out of their grasps is probably the best way stop this, or at the least hinder them.' she signed.

"Yea, but then that means it's gonna be harder to protect you. Optimus is tryin' to think of other options, but that's what it all comes down to." Ironhide said to her, the redhead gave a small sigh.

'No matter which option we go with, I'm ready.' she signed before giving a small smile. 'You said there was something you wished to show me?'

"Yea there is, but not just yet, base is too active and seems people are gonna keep comin' in, give it a few hours, gonna be gettin' dark soon." he said giving a small smirk, the redhead nodded a bit, curious just what he wanted to show her that he would want them to be undisturbed for, of course she could understand not wanting to be disturbed in general, as Epps had come in at a rather bad time earlier. He soon set her down and converted into his alternative form before activating his holoform and moving to work on the weapon once more, Victoria stayed near and watched, she wanted to have at least some understanding of the weapon she was going to be using.

* * *

She had been watching him work on the weapon much of the day, he had even explained a few basics to her and, after a while, she had actually began helping him, the redhead found it in some ways similar to mechanic work though it was rather different at the same time, there were enough similarities for her to understand some of it. It had already grown much quieter on the base and people had stopped walking through the room they were in. After a while Ironhide's holoform slid one of the last pieces into place on the frame.

"I'll calibrate it in the mornin', then we're headin' to the firin' range to test it." Ironhide said as he stood upright and looked towards her, Victoria gave a small nod as she finally tore her eyes from the weapon.

'Alright, I had never realized weaponry was so complex, it's got even more to it than mechanical work.' she signed.

"Yea it does, but you seem to pick up on it pretty fast." he said as he moved to stand behind her, his holoform's arms wrapping around her waist as he pulled her to him, a motion she didn't resist in the least "I think it should be quiet 'nough now to show you what I wanted to." he said before kissing the side of her neck, he then stepped back, releasing her from the embrace.

She looked back towards him, perhaps she wanted him, who was she kidding of course she did and she could kick herself for letting physical urges creep into her mind. She was an adult after all and it's not like she was innocent in any sense of the word but the physical normally meant nothing to her, she couldn't deny that she found his holoform rather attractive even if it wasn't what most women would find handsome, it looked good to her, damn the opinions of others. Even his true for was attractive to her, after all, it was him, humanized or in his true form, he was the one she had fallen for ~Perhaps emotion does play a part in physical attraction after all.~ she thought before his voice pulled her from her thoughts.

"Alright, why are you lookin' at me like that?" he asked, the redhead just smirked, walking up to him.

'What? I can't enjoy the view?' she signed.

Ironhide actually grinned at her when she signed that before reaching for her and pulling her to his holoform's chest, looping his arms around her "As long as you don't mind me doin' the same." he said, Victoria was glad she had gotten use to the height difference by now, it had taken some time but she wasn't near as bothered by it now even if she did constantly have a habit of standing on her toes when he held her like this to at least be nearer his holoform's height. "Close your eyes for a moment." he said to her, she tilted her head a bit before sighing and doing so as she felt his arms tighten around her, a hand coming up and pressing her head into his chest a bit, she had no idea what he was planning and she would normally never listen when someone told her to close her eyes but Ironhide was the one person she fully trusted, sure she had some trust in others but him she trusted with not only her life but her heart.

It was silent for a moment before she felt his hand caress her cheek "Alright, take a look around." he said as he loosened his grip on her.

The redhead opened her eyes and looked up at him for just a moment before she took a glance behind her, what she saw was breathtaking. She slowly turned as she gazed upon the tall towers, looking up she saw a starry sky through a light blue haze, near the horizon a bright, vibrantly lit star. It looked so much like the buildings she had seen battle torn in her dreams but there was no sign of explosions or battle this time, the scene was so peaceful, vehicles driving along roads that seemed to twist into existence as they came upon them, in the distance she could see a much taller tower that seemed bathed in light blue light, the structure gleaming under the glare of that vivid star. She just stood watching for a moment, it was such an alien landscape but at the same time it was so beautiful. 'How?' was all she signed as she felt the holoform's arms come to rest at her waist.

"It's just a hologram, playin' it from memory. I know your nightmares show you what the war looked like, figured I'd show you how it looked durin' the golden age." he said as he pulled her into an embrace from behind. "What do you think?"

'It's beautiful.' she signed as she watched blue lights flicker about in the hologram, looking up as one of the bridges formed over their heads only to retract a few moments later, leaving a slowly fading trail of light blue energy in it's wake, after a moment she glanced to where Ironhide's alternative form was, she saw the trails of light coming from his headlights. She knew they could do things like this but this was the first time she had seen it. Her attention was drawn forward once more by a passing hovering thing of some form.

"That's a sentry bot, they were kinda like mobile security cameras." he explained as the thing moved along. Victoria relaxed against his holoform, looking over the cityscape before she placed a hand on his arm, feeling him simply tighten his hold on her.

'It's amazing, thank you for showing me this.' she signed before she felt him lower his head to her shoulder and kiss her jaw line, she couldn't help but smile at that as she brought her right hand up to rest on the side of his neck. She soon turned in his grasp, twining her fingers in his hair and pulling him in for kiss, soft at first before he intensified it, his holoform's left hand coming to the back of her head as the hologram around them flickered and faded from existence but her attention was on him now so she barely noticed the cityscape vanish. She felt his other hand roaming up her back before he suddenly broke the kiss, the vibrant blue eyes of his holoform locked on her own hazel eyes, his hand moved from the back of her head to trail fingers down her cheek and neck. He then moved forwards, kissing along her jaw line until the lips of his holoform where near her ear.

"Can I have you?" he whispered to her, she responded by leaning her head to his and rubbing her cheek against his, her grip on his holoform tightening before she pulled her head back slightly, giving a small nod before she moved to catch his lips against her own once more, he returned the kiss with near crushing force as he lifted her from the ground, her legs wrapping around the holoform's waist as he held her up, their grip on one another firm as the back door of his topkick form opened and he moved to lay her down, climbing in himself before the door closed. She moved to pull him to her once more as she let her hands roam across the body of his holoform, slipping under the jacket he wore and trailing across the holographic flesh. This wasn't lust like she had originally mistaken it for, she could feel the difference now, this was passion, that was why she wanted him so and now she would have him just as he would have her.

* * *

It was calibrated, and damn did it have a kick! The launcher styled cannon Ironhide had been designing was finished, she was able to stand when firing it but she still felt that kick, if only she could find the right stance. She kept it over her right shoulder, she could hear the internal humming from the energy coursing through it, the design was a bit bulky but nothing she couldn't handle. The redhead decided to try another stance to see if it was more stable, she dropped her left leg back and bent at the knees slightly before opening fire on one of the shooting range's targets, her body rocked just slightly as the photon pulse shot forward but not nearly as bad as before.

"I think you got it, how's the recoil?" Ironhide asked, Victoria looked up to him before slinging the weapon onto her back, the strap that went horizontally around her chest holding it in place.

'It has a kick but I'll get use to it. At least I can stand when firing.' she signed.

"Good, now if you can hit one of the targets. . ." he said leaning down a bit with a smirk, the redhead just shook her head at him.

'I will, I was trying to figure out a stance that would work first.' she signed before reaching back and pulling the pulse cannon onto her shoulder once more before dropping her leg back again, she took aim on one of the targets, steadying her breathing as she listened to the hum of the weapon, she took a few seconds to make sure she had the shot lined up and pulled the trigger, the photon pulse hit it's mark, or at least near its mark as the target had now gained a sizable hole in it.

"Well, least you hit it this time, took you long enough." Ironhide said earning himself a glare from the redhead as she tossed the photon cannon to it's slung position at her back once more.

'It's going to take me a few to get use to it Ironhide, be patient.' she signed.

"It didn't seem to take you any time to get use to that grenade launcher." he retorted.

'That was in the heat of battle, there's something to be said for adrenaline.' she signed before pulling the cannon onto her shoulder once again, she took aim on another of the targets, she didn't hesitate this time, she just aimed and fired, hitting the target and taking a chunk out of it's side, sure it wasn't the most accurate shot but she did at least hit it. She adjusted her aim to the next target and, once she had her sights set on it, opened fire, putting a hole a bit nearer the center before she hit the switch to power down the weapon and pushed it back onto it's slung position at her back, she then looked towards the black mech 'Happy now?' she signed.

"Yea, you didn't take too long aimin' this time but your aim was still a bit off." Ironhide commented

'I'll just have to get use to aiming with it, and considering we never know when they might attack again, I had better get use to it fast.' she signed.

"Yea, you need to, go head and power it back up." he told her as he moved to stand behind her, kneeling down. The redhead nodded as she lifted the cannon onto her shoulder once more, hitting the switch at it's side as the weapon hummed to life, she took aim at one of the targets before she heard Ironhide from behind her "They'll take everything from you Vic, you saw what they're capable of, they took Sara from you, they almost took Bumblebee. . ." he said as the redhead's eyes narrowed, he was right, they had already caused her so much pain, Ironhide soon continued ". . .They are why you can't feel your left arm, and they'll keep coming until. . ." at that point Victoria leveled her aim dead center on the target and fired, the photon pulse hitting home, oh how she wished that had been one of the decepticon's spark chambers, how she wished that hole was in Megatron's chest instead of just a practice target, that bastard was the reason for all of this, the one who was leading the hunt for her, the reason she was in danger, the reason for Sara's death, she had already known why she fought but that little reminder was all it took. She kept her hand steady aiming on target after target, hitting near center each time, her eyes remained narrow and it looked as if she had near a snarl on her face, she didn't know how many times she fired but soon she had put a hole in all the targets that were currently placed out before she felt Ironhide's large finger trail down her back "I think I know why you do so well in battle." he said as she powered down the weapon and pushed it into it's slung position, turning to him soon after.

'What, because I get pissed off?' she signed, her expression still rather intense.

"Because you fight for revenge." he said, his voice a bit lower than normal. Victoria paused at that before shaking her head.

'No, if it was just for revenge then I would take a shot at a decepticon any chance I got.' she signed in response.

"Then why do you want to fight? I still don't know what drives you to take up arms against an enemy stronger than you are." he asked her.

'The answer is quite simple really, I care about all of you, the decepticons have taken enough from me and I'm not about to let them take more from me, you've all been fighting this war for so long, I pitied myself at first when I ended up wrapped up in all this but then I realized just how much all of you have seen, what you've lost, what I've been through is nothing compared to that and I know it but Ironhide, we're together now, it's time you realized you're not alone here, please, let me carry some of the burden, that's what I'm here for, you need to realize that. Just as you are there for me I'm there for you, I know you've been through hell but there's no reason for you to walk through it alone, not anymore.' she signed before giving a small sigh 'Sorry, I went on a ramble again.' she added.

Ironhide shook his head a bit "It's alright, didn't know you saw it that way. Vic I just ain't use to havin' someone there alright?"

'I'm not either but I let you in, I don't hide anything from you. I know it's going to take time, I'm just saying. . ." she paused mid sign as the sounds of the sirens echoed through the complex 'Fuck not again!.' she signed as the sounds of jet engines filled the air above them, Ironhide scooped her up and placed her on his shoulder at that, she got her balance, her left, metal covered hand moving to grip Ironhide's shoulder as he began towards where the other autobots were standing, narrowly dodging one of the explosions from a missile dropped by Starscream, Victoria managed to keep her balance on his shoulder and tightened her grip.

"Looks like we're field testin' that cannon." he said as he lifted his own cannons up and fired on the flying decepticon. They soon came to stand near the others, everyone had their weapons out, NEST members were near by as well, ready for combat.

"Ah man, not this shit again." Epps said as Starscream came in for another pass, the redhead reached her right hand back and pulled the photon cannon onto her shoulder, flipping the switch with her thumb before the weapon hummed to life, she saw the bombs drop and, instead of aiming at the decepticon, aimed for the bombs he had released, she fired five shots as quickly as she could, managing to hit one of the three bombs as Sideswipe activated his shoulder mounted gun and handled the other two, detonating them well above the surface where they would do the least damage.

Ironhide looked towards the redhead on his shoulder "Think you can stay up?" he asked, Victoria gave a small nod before looking towards where the ground based decepticons were coming from, she saw Barricade and Soundwave amongst the group as well as some she had not yet seen but she wasn't interested in identifying them either. She brought her aim upon them as Ironhide lifted his cannons. "Soundwave is the biggest threat in that group." Ironhide said, the redhead nodded and adjusted her aim on the large decepticon as Ironhide did the same.

"Autobots, fire at will." came Optimus's command, he didn't need to tell them twice. Ironhide and Victoria opened fire as soon as the command was said, both of their aims on Soundwave as three cannons came to life. The sounds of Sideswipe's shoulder mounted gun could also be heard as could Ratchet and Optimus's weapons, the decepticons returned fire and the heat was on. Ironhide sidestepped one of the incoming blasts, it crashing into a wall behind him before he focused fire on Soundwave once more, Victoria soon regained her aim as well and send a barrage of photon pulse blasts towards the decepticon's chest plates, the contact from the bursts seemed to actually be marring Soundwave's armor. Ironhide narrowly avoided another blast, her being on his shoulder was impairing his motion a bit as he couldn't duck and dodge near as well when he had to be aware of her position and balance. She sent a few more blasts towards Soundwave before she felt Ironhide jerk slightly, he had been hit because he couldn't move as well as he should with her up here.

'Put me down, I'm limiting your mobility.' she signed before sending three more shots towards the incoming enemy.

"I can take it Vic, I ain't leavin' your side." he said as he twisted to avoid another incoming shot, sidestepping in the process and sending return fire towards the decepticons as they grew nearer. Sideswipe and Jolt had already rushed forward to engage in melee combat with some of the hostiles.

'Then don't, I'll stay close.' she signed before opening fire once more.

"You better." he said as he kept cannon fire constant with his right cannon and lifted her from his shoulder with his left hand, placing her on the ground, once she was standing she brought the photon pulse cannon to aim once more, though instead of aiming for Soundwave's chest she altered her aim to his right knee joint wondering if taking out the joint would have the same kind of effect it would on a human. Ironhide returned to duel cannon fire as the enemies closed in, the redhead then opened fire sending four blasts towards the right knee of the decepticon, two of them hit their mark and he stumbled a bit before continuing his run, though his movement was a bit slower with the damaged joint to contend with. She adjusted her aim to account for his new position and opened fire once more, five blasts leaving the cannon at her shoulder, three hitting home as the decepticon tumbled to the ground, Ironhide's cannon fire never letting up as Soundwave tried to get back to his feet but to no avail. Each time he tried to stand he was met with another well placed shot from the weapons specialist. Soon the decepticons were upon them, Ironhide abandoned his assault on Soundwave as he had another decepticon to contend with, one near his own size who had come from the side and locked with the black mech, Victoria spun around herself, leaping to avoid the feet of the battling cybertronians before she brought her cannon up to aim, she opened fire and her blast hit the enemy's side, distracting them just enough for Ironhide to bring his fist in for a mean left hook, discharging his left arm cannon as his fist made contact. Once the decepticon was downed he sent a shot from his plasma cannon right into it's head and the attacker grew still. Seeing the nearest enemy was downed the redhead turned her aim back towards where Soundwave had been only to see he was no longer there, she would wonder where he had gone but she didn't have time to right now as a blast came towards her, she leapt to the side, landing in a roll before coming to stop on one knee and firing right back towards the decepticon who's attack she had just avoided.

Ironhide saw her target and opened fire on the attacking party as well, the decepticon didn't last long under that kind of punishment as soon one of Ironhide's well placed shots found the red eyed bot's spark. Once that one had been downed Ironhide took aim on Barricade, Victoria followed his lead and opened fire on the black and white enemy as well, they seemed to be doing a decent amount of damage until the redhead heard metal on metal contact behind her and a grunt from the weapons specialist, she glanced back to see Soundwave had shown himself once more and had full out tackled Ironhide, Soundwave's weapon looked rather damaged, likely from Ironhide's previous weapons fire. Victoria spun around quickly, she leveled her aim on Soundwave's head and was about to open fire when she felt something grab her with almost crushing force, she glanced back to see Starscream's ugly face looking at her, he had a tight grasp on her, breathing was becoming difficult but she still had some fight left in her. She swung the photon pulse cannon to the side to aim right at his face, she knew the recoil from this was going to hit her but it was her best chance, she wasted no time, as soon as she had aim she fired a blast towards that ugly mug of his. His head snapped back with a growl from the shot before she saw something wrap around the dorito of a decepticon's throat, it surged with blue energy as Starscream got jerked back. The decepticon's grasp on the redhead slipped and sent her flying through the air before someone caught her.

The redhead looked up to see the blue autobot that was Jolt had just saved her from a rather rough meeting with the ground. "You have to be careful Victoria." he said with a smirk before setting her down and bringing his second whip out, lashing it at Soundwave as the redhead brought her cannon to her shoulder once more and opened fire. Jolt tugged Soundwave off of Ironhide and her shot managed to hit the decepticon's side in the process. A surge of energy went through Jolt's whips and sent Soundwave and Starscream barreling towards each other and meeting with a sickening impact. Victoria ran towards her guardian as he moved to stand, he had a few dents in his armor but it wasn't as bad as it could have been, Ironhide hadn't even gotten a chance to fully stand when another blast came towards them, he moved to shield the redhead and as soon as the blast had met his armor and he moved her weapon was trained on the attacker, she opened fire, aiming for the chest as Ironhide turned his right cannon on the decepticon as well, the attacker stumbled back as it was pelted with weapons fire and soon was impaled through the chest from behind by Sideswipe's blade.

"How you guys holding up?" the silver bot asked as Ironhide stood.

"We're makin' it." the weapons specialist said as he fired at a decepticon that was coming up behind Sideswipe, the wheeled autobot spun around and brought his blades to bare, slashing at the attacker's legs, severing them before coming full turn from the move and aiming a second slash for the enemy's neck, separating his head from his body before plunging his sword into the decepticon's spark. He turned back around and aimed his shoulder mounted minigun at Starsceam and Soundwave, who Jolt had just kept slamming into each other repeatedly using his electrowhips. Victoria and Ironhide also turned to see the sight, it looked like Jolt was having a little too much fun turning the decepticons into living electromagnets.

"Jolt will you stop showin' off?" Ironhide asked, the blue autobot shrugged.

"Well it's keeping them out the fight isn't it? I'll keep these two busy, just watch my back." Jolt said as he slammed the decepticons into each other again. Victoria almost face palmed, OK, so Jolt had a bit of a silly side, she hadn't known that before.

The moment of humor was soon interrupted by another incoming blast, one which Jolt swung the decepticons he had been messing with around to deflect, slinging them towards the new attacker, the blue femme attacker, it seemed one of them freed Stormflux in all the excitement. They collided with their comrade and ended up in a bit of a heap before the three of them began struggling to their feet.

"Three of them, four of us, even if one of us is a bit squishy, I still like our odds." Jolt said as he lowered his stance into an offensive one, his whips at the ready.

"Yea, so do I." Ironhide said as he brought his cannons up to aim at the trio.

"I'll take the femme, she's a quick one." Sideswipe said as he got ready for the charge, his blades both extended and ready for action.

Victoria just smirked as she watched the decepticons get to their feet, battle was going on all around them but right now, these three where their focus, she brought the photon cannon to aim, she was ready.

* * *

**Author's note:**

_Thank you all greatly for the reviews once again, I do enjoy the feedback and am glad ya'll are liking it so far. This chapter has a bit of a mix of filler and plot in one, and the action is kicking up again, we are getting a bit closer to the final showdown, it's not happening just yet but it is growing nearer. Man, do these guys ever get a break? I mean they just finally get the base semi back in order and here it goes again, right back into the fray._

_Also, I wanna give a shoutout to Arctic028 for the help with the femme's name, though the originally suggested name, Stormsurge was taken by a canon, his idea helped me find a suiting, unused name so thank ya hun!_

_Anyways, I hope ya'll enjoyed this chapter and don't shoot me for the cliffhanger eh? I normally don't do cliffhanger chapters but I just couldn't resist with this one, it was just too damned suiting._

_As always, til next time ya'll!_


	11. Let's Lock and Load

It began in a split second, Soundwave, Starscream and Stormflux got to their feet as Jolt and Sideswipe lunged forward, Jolt's whips lashed out towards Soundwave in a rather intimidating display, each hit left a smoldering mark in the large decepticon's armor. Sideswipe wasted no time closing in on Stormflux, bringing his sword up to deflect one of her missiles. Victoria and Ironhide's sights were set on Starscream, Ironhide's cannons blazed to life as the redhead decided to make use of the disruptor she still had, pulling it from it holster and sending two shots towards each of the three decepticons before dropping the small weapon back in it's holster as the enemies made blind strikes, she brought her photon pulse cannon to aim and opened fire on Starscream, her and Ironhide's weapons fire pelting the decepticon mercilessly. A blind shot from Starscream's weapon came towards the redhead, she leap to the side, landing in a roll to avoid the blast and coming to a stop on one knee, she quickly got her aim back on the decepticon dorito and sent another four blasts towards the wings at his back, fully intending to disable his ability to flee if able.

"Vic get down!" she heard Jolt shout and she did just that, lowering her stance to the ground as Jolt swung Soundwave around by his electrowhips, the decepticon went right over her position from the momentum before being slammed full force into the still blinded Starscream. Victoria stood once more when it was clear and leveled her aim on the two decepticons who were struggling to their feet, she saw an opening as they were trying to stand, a damaged area in Starscream's side, energon was leaking from it just a bit and the blue color had caught her eye. She adjusted her aim to the damaged area and, since her aim with this thing wasn't that good yet, she figured multiple shots couldn't hurt. She opened fire, seven blasts coming forth from the weapon, upon impact she heard a rather pained sounding screech come from the decepticon.

She was just about to send another round of fire at the decepticon's damaged side when she caught something coming towards her out the corner of her eye, she leapt back barely avoiding a missile, the near by explosion knocked her from her feet but it had been far enough to not really cause any injury. The redhead stood once more, shifting the launcher style cannon on her shoulder a bit before looking to where Jolt was contenting with Soundwave who had now gotten to his feet, Starscream was trying to stand once more but Ironhide's cannons were making sure that was difficult. Sideswipe was doing pretty well with Stormflux, the blindness must have worn off by now and neither of them seemed able to get a hit on each other, when one attacked the other parried, blocked or dodged. Victoria leveled her aim towards Starscream once more, that was her target, she had to focus fire on him for the time being, the dorito of a decepticon had finally managed to get back to his feet and had brought his weapon up to aim at Ironhide, the redhead leveled her aim on Starscream's weapon, if she could just get a shot on that weapon she might be able to damage it enough that he would be down one gun, sure he had more but one less was one less. She opened fire on the gun at his wrist, three shots aimed towards it though the first two missed the third hit home, the photon pulse ripping the gun from the decepticon's wrist.

At that Starscream hunched over, the missiles at his back aimed towards the weapons specialist and the redhead, Ironhide charged forward as Vic saw Jolt wrap a whip around Soundwave's throat and take a running leap, the blue autobot swinging through the air using his whip as a guide and landing on Starscream's back, his other whip wrapping around Starscream's neck as he tugged back harshly "I don't think so." Jolt said as he pulled Starscream's head up from the force of the whip causing his aim to be highly compromised when his missiles fired, completely missing both his targets and Ironhide shoulder rushed the decepticon jet, the weapons specialist must have seen the damaged area at Starscream's side as he brought a cannon right to it and opened fire point blank, Starscream gave an echoing shriek of pain as the plasma burst tore into his frame.

Jolt leapt from Starscream's back an onto Soundwave's, wrapping both whips around the larger decepticon's throat as the blue energy crackled along the chains. Ironhide didn't once let up on his assault of Starscream, his hits and cannon fire pushing the pained decepticon back more and more before the decepticon Jet leapt into the air and transformed trying to flee. Victoria brought the photon cannon up to aim at Starscream's wings, firing five blasts towards him, only two managed to hit, they rocked his frame slightly but Starscream's thrusters kicked in and he shot off with both her and Ironhide's cannon fire following him.

"Coward!." Ironhide shouted after him before turning to where Jolt was contending with Soundwave, he brought his cannons up "Need a hand Jolt?" he asked.

"No I just figured I'd go for a ride, what do you think?" Jolt answered as he tightened the whips around Soundwave's throat, placing his foot at the base of the decepticon's neck and pulling back.

"A simple yes woulda been enough." Ironhide side as his opened fire on Soundwave, careful to avoid hitting the ally who was on the large decepticon's back. Victoria glanced over to see Sideswipe was still at odds with Stormflux, neither of them really able to get a solid hit on each other due to them being an even match in speed. Victoria took aim on the femme as she saw Sideswipe get pushed back in the process of blocking one of the decepticon's attacks, she took the moment's opening and opened fire, sending three shots towards the femme, Stormflux moved to block right as Sideswipe was coming in for another attack, the femme barely managed to avoid the blade coming for her chest, it skimmed her, leaving a deep scratch in her armor as the redhead opened fire once more, she was doing her best not to hit Sideswipe in the process so she was being sparing with her fire, sending only two blasts forth this time, one of them making contact with the side of Stormflux's head, throwing her off balance enough for Sideswipe to bring a blade to her weapon arm and sever it from her body before sending a wheeled foot into her abdominal area, sending her tumbling back.

Sideswipe looked towards the redhead a moment "Behind you!" he said as the minigun on his shoulder whirled to life, Victoria spun around to see Barricade standing there, she raised the photon cannon up to aim at him, how had he gotten that close? Why the hell wasn't he attacking? Barricade didn't even have his weapons out, he was right there, he could grab her so easily.

"Barricade! Don't just stare at her, rip that slagging fragment out her throat and lets go!" Stormflux's voice came from behind where the redhead stood as the sounds of metal on metal contact kicked up from behind once again, Victoria guessed that the femme and Sideswipe were engaged in battle once more, though with her missing her weapon arm she figured Sideswipe had an advantage now. Victoria didn't take her aim off Barricade, her hazel eyes narrowed on the decepticon, the photon pulse cannon on her shoulder emitting a menacing hum, her finger at the trigger ready to fire at a moment's notice. She didn't show fear, she wouldn't, she was going to stand.

"It's not that simple." Barricade finally said as he regarded the armed human standing before him. Victoria had no idea what this decepticon was talking about or just why he hadn't yet attacked her, she knew he could attack at any moment and half expected him to.

She saw Ironhide step up right behind Barricade, the black mech's cannon coming to aim at the decepticon's head "You're either brave or stupid, I'm bettin' on the latter." Ironhide said. Barricade didn't attack surprisingly, he simply stood there.

"I'm not going to attack her, I know better than that." Barricade said as he looked behind him at Ironhide "But the others don't."

"Just what are you gettin' at?" Ironhide asked the decepticon he currently had a weapon trained on.

"Now isn't the best time to explain." Barricade said before leaping to the side and transforming into his police car form and peeling off full speed, he weaved through the battle torn grounds, avoiding fighting mechs as he left the area. Victoria looked towards Ironhide a moment, she was just as confused by Barricade's actions as the rest of them, but there would be time to think on it later, right now there was still a battle raging around them.

The redhead turned to where Sideswipe and Stormflux were doing battle, even with one of her arms missing she was still holding her own against Sideswipe though she had more damage to show for it now, the femme was wearing down, it was just a matter of time now. Victoria brought the cannon over her shoulder to aim at the blue decepticon as she heard Ironhide's cannons open fire on Soundwave once more. Victoria let four more blasts fly, three of them hitting the femme's frame as Sideswipe landed a crushing blow, his blade slashed deeply into the femme's abdominal area, exciting a scream from the decepticon as she leapt back, she folded down into her alternative mode, a dark blue mustang and spun around to flee, Victoria sent a few more shots from the photon cannon after the fleeing femme but she swerved to avoid them.

"Well, that's one less." Sideswipe said before making his way towards where Ironhide and Jolt were dealing with Soundwave. Victoria turned to see Jolt was still flinging himself all over that decepticon, using his whips to swing about and land heavy kicks to Soundwave's frame, Sideswipe moved to slash at the large decepticon's legs as Ironhide pelted Soundwave with cannon fire near constantly. Soundwave finally managed to grab Jolt and throw him off, the blue autobot's whips slipping free from the decepticon's neck as he did so. Jolt righted himself in mid air and managed to land on his feet before charging right back at the decepticon, his whips lashing out, one wrapping around Soundwave's right arm as he tugged. Victoria moved so she would be able to get an open shot, bringing the photon pulse cannon to aim at the decepticon's chest and opening fire, she didn't even know how many bursts she sent forward but a good many of them hit, Ironhide's cannons were also doing quite a number on Sounwave's armor and Sideswipe was causing some major damage to the decepticon's legs and knee joints. Soundwave tried to knock Sideswipe away only to find a sword impaling his hand, the decepticon gave a pained growl as he tried to lash out once more, getting a grip on Jolt's whip and flinging him into Ironhide, knocking bout the autobots to the ground. The decepticon suddenly lowered himself, sending a leg sweep at Sideswipe, sending him flying back before finishing the sweep, sending his leg into the downed Jolt and Ironhide before they had a chance to stand. Victoria began moving back, she kept firing as the decepticon moved towards her, he moved to grab her and she leapt back, rolling as she landed, she managed to get back into a kneeling position before opening fire once more, aiming for Soundwave's chest as four blasts from her cannon shot forward.

~Come on boys, get up, I can't do this on my own.~ she thought as she rolled to the side to avoid another attempted grab, she managed to get to her feet this time, firing on the decepticon yet again, he barely staggered from the hit as he brought both hands to catch her, she tried to avoid the grab but his large hands closed in on her from both sides, she was trapped. The decepticon lifted her from the ground, her arms were still free, she still had the launched style cannon at her shoulder, she wasn't out for the count yet. She brought the cannon to aim at Soundwave's face, firing three shots from it, as they collided with his head he growled and his grip on her tightened, making it difficult for her to breath. Ironhide, Sideswipe and Jolt had gotten to their feet she saw and they were moving in on Soundwave once again but they held their attacks, the redhead was in the decepticon's grasp, he could crush her so easily.

Victoria narrowed her eyes as she gave a slightly pained hiss, she wasn't about to throw in the towel, she aimed for Soundwave's face once more and opened fire, he may have caught her but she was not about to make it easy on him, his grip tightened on her once again, her ribs would break soon, she could already feel the strain on them but she couldn't stop, she couldn't just let him take her, if she was going down she was going down fighting.

Soundwave shifted so he was grasping her in one hand as he brought his other to pull the photon pulse cannon from her grasps, she tried to hold on to it, firing as he pulled it from her, a few shots hitting his arm and hand but he managed to pull it free from her grasps, discarding the weapon on the ground. Ironhide had his cannons trained on the decepticon, Sideswipe's blades were out and ready to attack as were Jolt's whips.

"Let her go Soundwave!" Ironhide more or less growled out.

"Soundwave came for the girl, Soundwave has the girl." the decepticon said as he began backing up, Victoria still in his grasp as she tried to struggle free, his grip was strong, she couldn't pry his fingers from around her but she wasn't about to just give up, she had to do something. She looked back to where Ironhide was, if only she could yell to him, to tell him to just fire, to take the chance, her eyes locked onto her lover's optics for a moment.

~Please, just fire, he might drop me, please Ironhide, take the chance.~ thought, she mouthed the word 'fire' to him as Soundwave took an unstable step back, putting distance between himself and the autobots. At that moment Ironhide took aim on Soundwave's damaged legs and opened fire, the redhead braced herself, expecting the decepticon's grasp to tighten as she felt him shift, his leg giving out on him as he tumbled to the ground, Victoria slipping from his grasp in the process and falling towards the ground only for Sideswipe to roll forward, catching her in his hands as he swerved pass the falling decepticon. Ironhide's cannons were alight, sending a never ending barrage of fire into Soundwave as Jolt had moved in once again, his whips crackling with energy as he lashed out at Soundwave near constant. Sideswipe came to a stop where Victoria's weapon had fallen, placing her on the ground so she could grab it, she hoisted it over her shoulder once more and set the strap around her chest again before turning to take aim on the downed decepticon, she narrowed her eyes, a snarl coming onto her lips as she opened fire, aiming blast after blast towards the decepticon's head. Soundwave did the best he could to get back to his feet as other decepticons made their way to where the small group had been fighting, Sideswipe locked blades with one nearby as Ironhide made his way back towards where Victoria was, never ceasing fire on Soundwave, Jolt kept knocking incoming decepticons back with his whips, sending them flying into those behind them. Soundwave finally managed to stand though he was favoring his right leg greatly. As they dealt with the smaller decepticons who had moved towards them Soundwave began to wobble away from the group, Victoria and Ironhide continued firing on him until the smaller decepticons got too close.

They turned their fire on the more immediate threats as Ironhide lowered his left hand to Victoria, his right cannon still blasting back the nearer decepticons. She climbed on and he set her on his shoulder where she quickly got her balance and grip before aiming at the smaller decepticons below, she saw why he had wanted her up here, all the enemies they were currently dealing with were smaller than he was, the redhead suspected they were just a distraction to allow the other decepticons to flee but the fact of the matter was that they did need to be dealt with none the less. She opened fire on the attackers one by one as Ironhide's cannons tore through them with ease.

"I slaggin' hate drones." Ironhide said as he kept taking the small, red eyed bots out, Victoria continued doing the same, even the photon pulse cannon was proving highly effective against these guys, Sideswipe and Jolt nearby where cutting through them like it was nobody's business, soon enough they had been rid of all the smaller attackers. Victoria gave a small sigh, looking around the area to see that the base was in shambles again, even more buildings had been damaged, some totally collapsed, but it seemed all the larger decepticons were gone, a few drones were still being dealt with but NEST and the other autobots were making short work of them. The redhead caught sight of Will and Epps ping-pong balling one drone back and forth between each other with gun fire as they tried to get it downed, which didn't take them too long. Optimus had taken to just kicking them away from him since they were so small and it seemed Ratchet had ended up with a rather harmless one on a hard to reach spot on his back, the twins were just being the twins and laughing as the medic tried to get the annoying thing off him before Skidz finally decided to help Ratchet rid himself of the unwelcome pest.

"They used the drones to keep us busy while they escaped." Jolt said as he put up his whips, all the drones in the immediate area had been dealt with at this point.

"What gave you that idea Jolt?" Sideswipe asked with a bit of sarcasm in his voice.

"I was just stating the fact Sideswipe." Jolt responded with before looking over the small group. "Any major damage?" he asked.

Ironhide and Sideswipe shook their heads, Victoria hit the switch on the launcher styled cannon and let it power down before pushing it back into it's slung position. She looked over Sideswipe and Ironhide best she could, she could see some minor damage on their armor but nothing serious, they had gotten lucky this battle and she knew it.

'You guys know the term too close for comfort right?' Victoria signed. Ironhide gave a small nod, as did Jolt and Sideswipe. 'Well that was damned uncomfortable.' she signed, Sideswipe gave a small chuckle at that, Ironhide just shook his head at her, a small, amused smile on his face.

"Yes, it was, lets try not to have a repeat of the situation." Jolt said.

'Trust me, I don't plan to.' the redhead signed.

"Good, now I'm going help Ratchet get repairs done if you'll excuse me." Jolt said before walking towards where the medic was.

"See, I told you he wasn't that bad Vic." Sideswipe said, Victoria gave a small nod, in the time she had been with the autobots today was the first time Jolt had ever actually spoken to her, seems he wasn't as much as a stiff as she thought he was, maybe he just took a while to warm up to people, so to speak.

Ironhide looked over at the redhead on his shoulder, his cannons had powered down by this point and he brought a hand up, moving to run a large finger down her arm. "You're not hurt are you?" he asked, Victoria shook her head in response.

'Not really, well, at least I don't feel it yet, tomorrow I might be a little sore. May have to bother you for a massage if that's the case.' she signed with a bit of a smirk on her lips. Ironhide just chuckled at that as Sideswipe just shook his head at them.

"Get a room you two, seriously." Sideswipe said though it was obvious by his voice that he was teasing them more than anything else.

"Don't need one, got a back seat for that." Ironhide said, Victoria even paused at hearing him say that, she didn't think he would actually go that far. Sideswipe's face was just too great at that moment, he looked like he didn't know if he should be shocked, appalled, bust out laughing or all three at that point.

It took Sideswipe a moment to actually form a proper sentence after that kick to his processor but the first words out of his mouth afterwards were "I did NOT need to know that!"

Victoria's cheeks were almost as red as her dyed hair at this moment, she was near doubled over in silent laughter at Sideswipe's reaction, he was acting as if he had just been scarred for life or something, she wanted to sign some kind of comment to make it worse on Sideswipe but she was too busy trying to breath at the moment.

Ironhide just gave a slight half shrug "You made the comment." the weapons specialist said.

"Yea but I didn't think you were going to come back with something like that! I'm just going to go help the others before I bury myself any deeper." Sideswipe said trying to wipe that odd look off his face, you would swear by his expression that he had just seen a ghost or something. The silver autobot skated off to join the others before Victoria heard stifled laugher come from Ironhide.

"I don't think he'll wanna pick on us bout it anymore." Ironhide said with a smirk.

'I think you just made damned sure of that one love. Lets go join the others, you have some minor damage that needs tending to.' she signed.

"You worry too much, it's just a few scratches." he said.

'Says the one who worries every time I fight, besides, you took some pretty direct hits, just let Ratchet repair the damage alright? Or I'll go over there and let him know you're being stubborn.' she signed with a small smirk, she would do it too if she had to.

"Fine, if anything so I won't have to put up with Ratch's fussin'." Ironhide said as Vic smiled to him, she brought her hand to run along the horn like protrusion on his head, this small show of affection getting a slight smile from the weapons specialist before he began to make his way towards where the medic was.

* * *

The sunset had come over the battle torn base, Victoria had snuck off for a little while, though she had not gone far. She had used piping to climb up onto the roofs of one of the more sturdy buildings, the cannon was still at her back as she looked at the open sketch pad in her lap. She had half finished a sketch of the setting sun but her heart wasn't in the work, she had too much on her mind right now to focus on something as trivial as drawing. She moved the sketchpad from her lap and brought her knees up to her chest, wrapping her arms around her legs as she watched the last golden ribbons of the sunset fade away. She didn't know what she should do, Optimus had made the choice, they were going to attack the decepticon base, to take the offensive for once, twice already the NEST base had been attacked, Victoria even thought it was about time they brought the fight to the enemies instead of just sitting back and waiting for them to come.

They were all going, she was going with them into enemy territory, into the jaws of the beast which hunted her. Should she be afraid? Would most people cry knowing that they were about to go to those who wished their death? She didn't know what she felt right now, what she should feel, there was an undying fire, a determination burning within her, but there was something else as well, she thought she knew what she felt but she wouldn't dare give that name, she wouldn't dare to admit it.

The redhead gave a heavy sigh as she brought her right hand up to her marked throat, she closed her eyes as the night breeze kicked up, unshielded from the wind, he hair swayed with the breeze as she reopened her eyes, looking to the now darkened horizon as she became lost in her thoughts, the possibilities, the best case scenarios, the worst, her mind went over all the things that could go wrong or right. She didn't know if she would meet her end in Australia, she knew Ironhide and the others would do their best to prevent it.

She shook her head at the thoughts. No, being defeated wasn't an option, she couldn't even consider death a possibility, she had something to live for now, she had a second chance, sure it was an odd group but she had something like a family now, something she thought she would never have again. Sideswipe was like an awesome older brother, she couldn't help but think of Ratchet a bit like an overprotective uncle always fussing about something even though he cared about everyone, the twins were like the annoying cousins that you couldn't stand half the time but they grew on you, Jolt was, well, Jolt was just Jolt, she didn't really know how to class him yet, Bumblebee was like a little brother in some ways, and Optimus, well, without him being the support for the entire group things just wouldn't be the same. Ironhide, in Ironhide she found something she had given up on, she was afraid to use the word, it was too soon, they had only been together for a little over a month if that even, but she did suspect that, even so soon, it was actually love she felt for him. No, she was not going to meet her end in Australia, but merely another beginning, another page of her life, a story only she could write and she was not going to let the decepticons steal that from her.

"Vic! Where are you?" she heard Ironhide's voice from below, she moved to the edge of the roof, his head was only about five feet below where she was sitting, she gave a whistle to get his attention and Ironhide turned around to see her on the rooftop slightly above. The redhead smiled to him as he put his hands on his hips and looked at her. "What are you doin' up there?" he asked.

'Needed some time to think was all, sorry if I worried you.' she signed, Ironhide just shook his head at her.

"What I wanna know is how you got up there." he said with a bit of a smile.

'Climbed a pipe on the side of the building, it's not that hard.' she signed as Ironhide's hand came up to where she was sitting, she grabbed her sketchbook and climbed onto his hand before he lowered her to his chest, holding her gently there, she wrapped her still feeling hand around part of his armor and pulled herself against his chest, she couldn't help but give a small smile, she could hear the soft, rhythmic hum of his spark even through the thick alloy of his armor, she could feel a slight bit of warmth radiating through. It was a rather pleasant contrast to the cool evening air.

"Are you ready for tomorrow?" Ironhide asked, Victoria gave a small sigh, Optimus had decided not to waste any time and they were going to depart for Australia tomorrow, to the coordinates Ironhide had gotten from Stormflux, all of them suspected an ambush but it was the best chance they had and satellite imagery had confirmed an odd formation there, thermal imagery was sketchy but there was certainly something there.

Victoria gave a small sigh, nodding slightly against Ironhide's chest as she pulled herself as close as she could to him, she felt his hand press her against him just slightly, enough to hold her firmly but no where's near painful. They just stood like that, holding onto each other for the longest time, Victoria didn't think either of them cared who might pass by and see them right now, she for one was tired of hiding, they were different, he had been fighting long before she even existed, yet their paths crossed due to circumstances beyond either of their control, who was she to question a good thing? It did sadden her that she had a mere 80 year lifespan and that, though she would age over the years and eventually fall prey to death, he could live for centuries, millennia after she was gone, he was timeless compared to her. She pushed those thoughts back, now was not the time to worry about it, the topic would need to be brought up but not now, not yet, not when they had another impending battle ahead of them. After they got through this, then she would bring it up, she saw no reason to ruin this moment with such conversation.

Ironhide began to make his way inside what was nearly the last undamaged hanger, he kept her at his chest, that same firm hold on her as he moved to the quieter side of the room and took a seat. The other autobots were within the hanger as were many of the NEST members, this hanger was about the only one with no real damage that was able to be used for any sort of bunker. A few of the NEST members took notice of the redhead held to Ironhide's chest but they seemed to keep any comments to themselves. Sideswipe made his way towards Ironhide and Victoria, coming to a seat nearby.

"Found her I see." Sideswipe said, Victoria glanced towards him and gave a silent half chuckle before relaxing against her guardian, letting the sketchpad she had been holding drop to the floor so she could get comfortable, Ironhide's slightly reclined seated position making it much easier for her to just lay against him.

"Yea, she was on the roof." Ironhide said as he looked down at the redhead that was resting on his chest, he brought a hand to where she was and carefully ran a finger down her hair only for her to bring a hand up and grip his finger, he smiled at her as she did this. "Better go into recharge Sideswipe, got a long day ahead of us." Ironhide said.

"Yea, you too, she looks like she well on her way to falling asleep as it is." Sideswipe said, Victoria just looked over to him and smirked, flipping him off, she meant it in jest of course and if Sideswipe's laugh was anything to go off of he took it as a joke as well.

Sideswipe was right though, Victoria had grown weary, it had been a rough day and the steady, pulsing hum of Ironhide's spark and the small bit of warmth that was radiating through his armor had begun to lull her to sleep, she gave a soft sigh before closing her eyes, so she was sleeping with her glasses on tonight, she didn't feel like moving to take them off, she was far too comfortable right now and she had a feeling she wasn't going to be moving much during her sleep tonight, she was likely to sleep like a damned log. She continued listening to the soft hum of her guardian's spark beneath his chest plate, she couldn't help but give a small smile as, slowly but surely, sleep claimed her as it's own for the night.

* * *

The morning had come sooner than she thought, as in 3 am sooner than she thought, they had hurried to the transport planes and loaded up, Victoria couldn't help but look out one of the two windows in the large passenger bay. Will and Epps had offered for her to ride with the troops but she let them know that she much preferred to ride with the autobots, sans Optimus as he had to go in a third carrier due to his size, after all she had never been flying before, if she did happen to freak out she wanted to be near Ironhide, he was about the only one who would be able to calm her down. So far though she hadn't wanted to freak out at all, she was too busy watching the lights of the base drop below them as the plane gained altitude, she was pretty much glued to the small window right now even though if was rather dark, a bit of a childish grin on her face, she knew she shouldn't be so excited about something like this, people rode in planes all the time but this was the first time she had ever been in one. She knew it was going to be a long ride and that her fascination with the window wasn't going to last the whole trip, but it held her interests for the time being. She had been sitting between Sideswipe and Ironhide, though she was now kneeling in said seat so she could look out the window and watch the takeoff. As the plane's nose inclined she felt her balance thrown just a bit, thankfully she had opted to wear her contacts due to the situation they were going into so she didn't have to worry of her glasses getting jostled, she gripped onto the handle by the side of the window with her metal covered left hand to keep her balance though she also felt Ironhide's hand come around her to be sure she didn't slip.

"Maybe you should sit down Vic." he said to her, the redhead nodded a bit before he moved his hand from her so she could turn around and sit properly on the seat, well, as properly as she could.

"Yes, if you are kneeling like that when we hit turbulence you may end up getting thrown." Ratchet added.

'Sorry, just first time I've ever been on a plane.' she signed.

"I was wondering why you seemed so excited." Jolt stated, Victoria just gave a silent nervous chuckle at that.

"So, what's our ETA?" Sideswipe asked.

"About seventeen hours, it will be ten in the morning when we land in Australia." Ratchet answered.

"You mean when we drop in, remember, they aren't landing." Jolt commented.

Victoria shifted slightly at that mention 'That's about the only thing I'm nervous about, never exactly been skydiving before, should be quite a rush.' the redhead signed.

"Don't worry Vic, like I said, I'm gonna be holdin' you." Ironhide said, Victoria gave a small nod as she adjusted the cannon on her back a bit.

'I know, I'm actually sort of looking forward to it, should be fun.' she signed, Ironhide smiled at her as he cupped his hand around her, she leaned back against his palm and got comfortable, it was going to be a long trip and she figure it may be a good idea for her to try and get a nap in before the drop just to be sure she wouldn't end up groggy when things really kicked off.

* * *

She woke to being nudged by Ironhide, who she had fallen asleep leaning against, his hand had come to secure her besides him as she had rested but it seemed it was time for her nap to be over. Ratchet, Jolt, the twins and Sideswipe were already standing.

"It's almost drop time Vic." Ironhide told her, the redhead gave a small nod and moved to crack her neck, she was satisfied with the few pops she got out of it, it was better than nothing. Jolt was helping get the others ready for the jump, getting the parachutes attached to them before Ratchet helped him with his own. Ironhide bent down and lifted Vic from the floor of the plane, her held her to his chest, his grasp on her rather firm but he was no where near hurting her, she clung onto his chest armor to be sure she wouldn't slip, though she highly doubted she would with him holding her as he was.

Ratchet moved to secure the parachutes onto Ironhide, looking at the weapons specialist once he had done so "Make sure you keep a good hold on her." the medic said.

"That's one thing you don't have to worry bout Ratch." Ironhide said as he moved towards where they would be jumping from.

"They'll be at the right altitude in about three minutes, there's some activity near the drop zone so be ready." Ratchet informed them.

"We know Ratchet, we can hear the coms too." Sideswipe commented.

"We can but Vic can't." Ironhide stated, this caused a goofy grin to come from Sideswipe as he rubbed the back of his head a bit.

"Oh yea, forgot about that, sorry." Sideswipe said, this got a silent chuckle from the redhead before the bay doors began to open. "Looks like our cue." the silver bot added.

Victoria tightened her grip making sure she was stable, she was pretty confidant in Ironhide's grip on her but it never hurt to be just a little more certain. "Hold on Vic." Ironhide said to her as the others began to jump, deploying the chutes and cutting them right before hitting the ground. Ironhide also jumped, the redhead clung to his chest as she felt her hair whipping in the wind, it reminded her of her joyrides, that feeling of freedom, that rush she got, she couldn't help but close her eyes for that moment, she wasn't afraid, this felt like what she always enjoyed as adrenaline began rushing through her, she felt the slight jerk when Ironhide deployed the parachutes but she just held on to him and enjoyed the ride while it lasted, as time for her felt like it had slowed down and she let the adrenaline surge through her. This feeling, for the longest time it was all she lived for, certainly she had other reasons to live now but this feeling would always be dear to her.

Soon they had made it to the ground though it had felt like forever to the redhead, Ironhide cut the lines to the chutes that were attached to him as the NEST members touched down not too far from where the autobots had landed, Optimus soon touched down as well though his landing was a good bit heavier, of course this was to be expected due to his sheer size.

"Alright, we have hostiles active in the area, our mark is five clicks, due east, keep on guard." Will said to the NEST troops. Ironhide moved Victoria from his chest and placed her on the ground.

Epps looked up towards the tall autobot leader, bringing his hand up to shield his eyes from the Australian sun "So, just wondering, if this doesn't work, we got a plan B?" he asked.

"I'm working on it." Optimus answered.

Epps shrugged "Good enough for me, you haven't steered us wrong yet."

"Alright. . ." Optimus said looking to the autobots "Transform and roll out." the blue and red leader said as he folded into his peterbilt alternative form. The other Autobots followed suit and the NEST members began to load up. Ironhide's driver side door opened and Victoria climbed in as the NEST members got into the bed of his topkick form, Will was amongst the group riding with Ironhide.

"Hey, watch where you're steppin'!" Ironhide shouted back to one of them before he lowered his voice so only Victoria would be able to hear him "I hate when they hit one of those ticklish spots."

The redhead couldn't help but smirk at hearing that 'I didn't know you were ticklish.' she signed as the last of the NEST team got situated.

"Don't even think bout it." He said to her before shouting back to the NEST members in the back "Hold on!" he said before beginning to move forward, following Optimus's lead.

'For the record love, too late, looks like I'm going to have to find out just where you're ticklish at after this is all over.' Victoria signed with a smirk before she heard Ironhide chuckle, his alt mode rocking a bit from the action.

"Careful, two can play that game." Ironhide retorted, this just caused Vic to give a bit of a sheepish grin.

"Will you two stop flirting in there?" Will shouted from where he was sitting in the weapons specialist's truck bed.

"Shuddup Will, I had to put up with you and Sarah, remember?" Ironhide shouted back at him. Victoria glanced at Ironhide's rearview mirror to see Will had a huge guilty grin on his face.

"Alright man, I'll give you that one." Will responded as he patted the side of Ironhide's alt mode, causing him to swerve just a bit before he corrected his course. "Sorry about that Ironhide, I forgot." Will apologized.

'Well, looks like I already know where to find one ticklish spot.' Vic signed.

"Will, I'm gonna get you back for that!" Ironhide shouted back as soon as Vic had signed, the redhead couldn't help but give a silent laugh at his reaction.

"What'd I do?" Will asked.

"I'll tell you later." Ironhide responded. Victoria couldn't help but have a smirk on her lips at this point, she looked forward once more before she saw what they were here for, a huge part of a mountain had been carved into causing a bit of an overhang, just enough to shield it from aerial view, within the carved out structure there seemed to be something constructed with a cybertronian body laying at it's base. She could barely make it all out but it was certainly there.

'Looks like it's time.' Victoria signed.

"Yea, it is, you ready Vic?" Ironhide said, his voice low enough so it could only be heard by her since she was inside his cab.

The redhead sighed, looking towards the carved out area once more, she could see movement, they had been spotted as they made their way towards the enemy's turf. She nodded 'Let's lock and load.' she signed as she heard Optimus come over the coms Ironhide had routed through his speakers.

"Everyone get ready, we do not have the element of surprise." Optimus said as the autobots all came to a halt, the NEST members filed out of each other them as Ironhide opened the driver door for Vic to get out. She stepped back and gave Ironhide space to make the change as she pulled the photon pulse cannon onto her shoulder and flipped the switch, the weapon humming to life.

"Vic, catch." Ironhide said as he tossed a small blade he had pulled from a storage compartment towards her, she caught it in her feelingless left hand and looked over it, pulling it from the sheath slightly, it was a darker metal and it looked rather dull compared to most swords she had seen. "I didn't have a chance to give it to you earlier today, that's the energon sword I've been workin' on for you since I first mentioned it, was gonna give it to you in a few weeks for your birthday but it might come in handy." he said, she looked over to him and gave a small smile, nodding as she pushed the launcher style cannon into it's slung position on her back and secured the blade at her belt. She reached up and pulled the cannon back onto her shoulder as she looked towards the incoming decepticons, they would have to get pass them to destroy that machine, it was going to be a challenge but they had to do it. Each autobot brought their weapons out and prepared for the incoming battle.

"Autobots engage!" came Optimus's command and they rushed forward towards the incoming enemy, Will gave a similar order to the NEST team who followed behind their cybertronian allies and even Vic began forward, Ironhide staying right at her side as they began to open fire.

The time had come, it was time for the hunters to become the hunted.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

_OK, so I know normally I have about a week, give or take, between updates but man, I just couldn't stop writing! I go up this morning and it was like burning at my brain, and the fact I have massive insomnia likely came into play as well. I cannot believe I wrote a whole damned chapter in one day, goodness I am too addicted to writing aren't I? Thank you THANK YOU to my reviewers, you guys are what give me the drive to write like this and to write so much so from the bottom of my heart thank you!_

_Yes, this is what it all boils down to, the final showdown, or at least the start of it, this is where it will all come about, what did Barricade mean hmm? Any guesses as to what he knows that the others don't? Now, things are going to be happening back to back from this point forward, I do not know how many scenes or even chapters the final confrontation will span, it all depends on how I write it, there was still twists to the story, still things that are as of yet unknown. Hold on guys, it's going to be a wild ride._

_I hope ya'll like the build, all hell is breakin' loose, til next time ya'll!_


	12. Beginning of the end

Forces clashed in no time, weapon fire burst forth from both sides, dirt kicked up from all sides as blasts landed and bombs detonated, rolling flames would fade in and out of existence over the ground as they rushed forward. This was war, this was what it all came down to, this was why they had come here today, and this was where she would find her calling.

Decepticons of all shapes and sizes were locked in battle with the autobots and NEST team, battle cries, shouts, orders being shouted from either side, it was show time. Victoria kept forward, readjusting her aim from enemy to enemy, aiming for joints, hoping to slow their movements or stagger them, Ironhide stayed near her, sending stronger blasts towards those she was targeting, using any hindrance her photon cannon caused for the decepticons as an advantage, she kept herself aware of Ironhide's movements, taking her cues from him when it came to avoiding incoming fire. Any time he took aim on a new target she did the same, any time he fired upon larger enemies she'd pull the sensor disruptor out and sensory deprive them to make damaging the hostiles easier before falling back on cannon fire to help worsen the damage.

It was battle, but it was a dance, team members working together, planning their moves based on those of their comrades, it was a vicious battle but even within such carnage there was art, trust, friendship and loyalty at work, war was certainly a deadly dance. The redhead could feel the adrenaline surging through her, the sound of her heart racing, the flow of time itself feeling slowed as she watched blast after blast burst forth from her photon pulse cannon, trails of energy flowing behind the bright blasts as they rocketed towards their targets, the shower of energy and sparks where the blasts made contact with the decepticon's chassis, the brilliant display of Ironhide's cannon fire following close behind her own, the impact causing a vibrant mix of colored sparks as the decepticon would stagger and Victoria turned her weapon to the next target. The sounds of all forms of weaponry echoing around them, the sky alive with winding, weaving trails of missiles, rockets, plasma bursts, pure energy blasts painting their tales amongst the clouds.

Victoria leapt to the side as a pretender in it's robotic form lunged at her, she pushed the cannon into it's slung position on her back as her left hand came to the energon blade at her hip, she pulled it free as the blade activated the moment it was fully freed from the hilt. The pretender lowered itself before attempting another lunge towards the redhead, Victoria responded, bringing the glowing blade to bare, parrying the incoming attack before slipping the blade down along the decepticon's forearm, cutting into the plating there as she used the momentum she had built up to bring the blade full circle in a quick downwards strike followed up by swift twist of her body and a side slash right across the abdominal section of the attacker, each move blending into the next due to her past martial arts experience. The pretender leapt back once it had gained a gash in it's midsection and poised for another strike but Victoria was already in the process of pulling the photon pulse canon back onto her shoulder, as the decepticon leapt at her she opened fire, the blast tearing into the pretender's chest armor and sending it flying back amongst an explosion of sparks as the metallic attacker fell still. Victoria brought the energon sword back to it's sheath, the blade deactivating as it came in contact with it's scabbard. She turned her attention back to the group she had been firing on, Ironhide's cannons were still providing a nonstop barrage of damaging blows.

She took aim on one of the larger enemies Ironhide was firing on and locked her sights on the decepticon's right knee, sending shot after shot at her target until she saw the knee start buckling, the weapons specialist near her focused his fire on the weakened joint and within moments the decepticon's leg was rendered useless. Ironhide began to rush forward, lifting her from the ground as he did so, she stabilized herself in his hand and continued firing at the downed decepticon as he kept sending plasma blasts forth with his free arm. He was trying to punch through, to get them closer to that machine so it could be destroyed, Sideswipe and Ratchet weren't far behind, providing cover fire and dealing with the enemies that tried to close in from the sides. Ironhide lowered the redhead to the ground as he drew near the large decepticon they had targeted, she pushed off from his hand once lowered enough and landed in a roll, coming to a stop on one knee and raising her weapon to aim at the downed decepticon as Ironhide jumped at him. Victoria took aim on the enemy's head and let loose a short burst of fire before Ironhide came down on the opponent, both cannons unleashing the his fury on the decepticon's frame as Sideswipe swerved pass to lock blades with a smaller enemy, the clash of his swords against the decepticon's echoed across the battle field, bending onto the sounds from the rest of the battle.

The redhead turned her weapon from the decepticon Ironhide had just sent the final cannon blast into and found her next target as Ironhide began to engage another enemy, she took aim at the opponent's weapon as she saw it aimed at her lover, before the decepticon opened fire she had sent five blasts at the weapon arm, the force of impact causing the enemy's shots to go astray as Ironhide sent a close range blast right into the spark chamber of the decepticon.

"Move!" she heard Ratchet bellow nearby, she snapped her gaze to the side to see a missile was incoming and darted from it's path, narrowly avoiding the blast as she brought her metal covered left arm up to guard her face from the small debris the impact kicked up. She looked towards where the rocket came from to see Stormflux standing there, her right arm was still missing but her weapon seemed to had been reattached to her left. Victoria locked her aim onto the femme and opened fire not a moment later, Stormflux ducked and leapt every which way to avoid the photon blasts as she brought her weapon up to return fire at the small human. Victoria shifted her aim to the incoming missile and fired upon it, the impact of the missile and photon pulse meeting causing the projectile to detonate before it reached it's mark. Victoria didn't miss a beat, she swung her weapon back to aim at Stormflux as the femme began to charge towards her, both fired, the femme twisted out of the way of the blast without losing speed, the redhead ducked low, one leg extended to the side as her weight rested on the one bent beneath her, she opened fire once more, sending a wide spread of blasts towards the decepticon femme, Stormflux couldn't dodge all of those blasts, she took one directly to the chest, slowing her forward momentum just a bit. Victoria was about to open fire again when Ratchet bolted forward and rammed into the decepticon, the medic's saw was out and spinning full speed as he brought it down on the femme, sinking it deeply into her shoulder joint before Stormflux managed to kick him from her, turning her missile launcher on the medic.

The redhead took aim on the weapon threatening her friend and opened fire, five blasts sailed through the air, two hitting the body of the weapon, a third hitting the exposed tip on the loaded missile causing the potential projectile to detonate inside of the missile launcher, the explosion ripping the weapon right from the femme's arm and sending the decepticon flying back, Ratchet stumbled back a bit as well from the force of the resulting blast but managed to keep his footing. Stormflux scrambled back to her feet, she looked rather shocked at the occurrence, Victoria took the opportunity the decepticon's surprise offered and leveled her aim on the femme's knees, Stormflux was fast, she had seen this, limiting this decepticon's mobility would be an extremely useful thing. The redhead aimed for the femme's knee joints, opening fire as rapidly as the photon pulse cannon could handle, blast after blast collided with the targeted joint, Ratchet's laser pistol fire also targeted the joint, knocking it from under the decepticon femme as their blasts warped the metal of her frame.

A heavy clash of metal against metal sounded from Victoria's right, a quick glance showed that Ironhide had just shoulder rammed a decepticon that had lunged at her. She figured Ratchet could handle Stormflux from here as she swung her aim towards the decepticon Ironhide had diverted from her and began firing, the photon pulse cannon was growing uncomfortably hot at this point, the weapon was beginning to overheat a bit so she sent only five blasts towards the enemy Ironhide had engaged, the rounds aimed for the decepticon's already slightly damaged leg, this time all shots connected, causing the enemy's leg to buckle a bit as Ironhide sent a strong kick towards the buckling metal, snapping the leg under the opponent.

Victoria knew she needed to let the photon pulse cannon cool down so she quickly flipped the switch and pushed it into it's slung position as she pulled the energon blade free of it's sheath once more, as soon as it was free of it's hold the blade reactivated, the thought crossed her mind that Ironhide must have equipped it with a sensor but she did not have time to think about the mechanics of the weapon right now, she had to keep her head in the game.

Ironhide made short work of the decepticon once it was downed and he moved towards Victoria, his hand down as she leapt up and landed in his palm, her right hand gripping his thumb for balance as she stood, the energon sword in her left, making certain that blade did not make contact with him. He lifted her as he ran forward, Optimus, Jolt and the twins had managed to break through part of the wave of decepticons, a team of the NEST members were following their lead as they fought their way through. Soon she and Ironhide had joined up with Optimus and the others, they were getting closer to their goal but the fact Starscream, Megatron and Soundwave were nowhere to be seen was a concern.

"Vic, I want you to blind as many of them as you can, we'll mow 'em down after, got it?" Ironhide asked her as he used his free arm to blast back the decepticons surrounding them, Victoria nodded as she brought her sword to it's sheath before pulling the sensor disruptor free of it's holster, she began to take aim with her left arm, her right still aiding in keeping her balance as she began opening fire. She made sure her aim was proper, she could not afford to accidentally hit one of her friends right now so she took care to be certain of the shot before she took it, moving from target to target, blinding decepticon after decepticon. As she blinded them the others overpowered them, breaking their way through the wave bit by bit as Sideswipe and Ratchet joined the grouping, lending their aid in the thinning of the decepticons.

Victoria shifted her weight as Ironhide moved, each time he changed his aim or avoided an attack she had to regain her posture before continuing her firing, she had been doing well adjusting to the movements as well until a decent sized decepticon slammed into Ironhide's side and knocked him back, causing him to loose his footing from the unexpected blow. As the black mech landed the redhead tumbled from his hand, she managed to roll as she landed, avoiding any injuries to herself though the sensor disruptor fell from her hand in the fall, she didn't have time to look for it as she stood so she brought her right hand up to pull her now cooled photon pulse cannon onto her shoulder and aim at the enemy which had knocked over her guardian. She flipped the switch with her thumb to ready the weapon as she aimed for the decepticon's head and opened fire while Ironhide righted himself and sent a fist for the hostile's midsection, the contact sent the enemy stumbling back as Ironhide brought his cannons up and unleashed a torrent of blasts at the enemy, pushing them farther back as he worked on downing them.

Victoria lowered her aim to the decepticon's knee joints and opened fire, sending blast after blast towards the slowly warping metal until it began to give out. Ironhide finished the decepticon off with a blast right to the face as Victoria heard a clash of metal behind her, glancing back to see Optimus in the process of throwing a decepticon away from where she stood. As Optimus turned to engage a couple of nearby decepticon's Victoria saw one jumping at his back, she brought her launcher style cannon to aim at the currently airborne enemy and opened fire, peppering it's form with photon blasts, the weapons fire so near must have gained the autobot leader's attention as he quickly spun around and sent one of his dual blades through the leaping decepticon before throwing the stilled frame into the two he was contending with previously, it seemed Optimus could handle himself pretty damned well with or without cover fire but at least she helped pull his attention to the incoming attack.

She turned to see Ironhide had already brought down two more decepticons himself, she couldn't help but smirk, her sweetheart was damned good, sadly now was not the time to watch him in action as another pretender had caught sight of her. The near human sized decepticon lunged at her, it's hand looked like it was styled with rather wicked looking claws which were aimed right for her, she brought up her exoskeleton covered left arm to block, the force when the pretender made contact caused the redhead's stance to sway a good bit but the arm held and she was suddenly rather glad Ratchet had been insistent on using cybertronian metal for it instead of earth alloys.

The pretender jumped back only to spring at her once more as soon as it's feet had touched down, Victoria brought her left hand to the energon blade as she pushed her cannon into the slung position, she swung forth with the blade right from the unsheathing, the combined motion giving the strike more force than a normal starting blow would hold. The blade made contact with the decepticon's midsection, slicing into it's metal cleanly and severing it's legs from it's body though she was unable to avoid the claws which were aimed at her face, she felt the tips of those bladed fingers sink into the right side of her face and rip forward as the severed upper torso of the pretender fell to the ground, once the claws left her flesh three deep cuts were present across her face, blood dripping down her skin, adrenaline was the only thing saving her from feeling the true pain of the wound, reducing it to a dull sting for the time being.

She pulled her cannon down onto her shoulder and aimed at the torso which was pulling itself towards her by it's arms, still trying to attack. She just gave a twisted smirk at the thing before sending a blast from the photon cannon right into the thing's head near point blank, at that point, the pretender went still.

She brought her right hand to her cheek for a moment, running her fingers down her wounded cheek before looking at her blood covered finger tips, she just shook her head and wiped the blood from her face a bit before sheathing the energon blade and turning to where Ironhide was still fighting. She was bleeding, she was armed and she was pissed. Victoria brought her aim to Ironhide's current target and opened fire as she began to move towards Ironhide, she ducked and weaved through incoming blasts, battling cybertronians and NEST members before she got near her guardian, coming to a stop a few meters away so she could move out of his way if needed as she sent near constant fire towards the decepticon he was currently battling. Ironhide's cannons were ablaze as well as he pelted the opponent's armor with blast after blast, marring and warping beginning to show on the decepticon as it fired on Ironhide, one blast managed to hit the black mech's shoulder, exciting an angered growl from Ironhide before he sent a fist right towards the enemy's chin, upper cutting the decepticon and firing his plasma cannon into the enemy's throat at the same time. The decepticon went down after that blow and Ironhide sent a blast right at the spark chamber within the decepticon's injured chest, the enemy was not getting back up.

* * *

How many had been taken down? How long had they been fighting? How many were there? Victoria didn't know where all these decepticons came from and why the other, stronger ones were no where's to be seen, the only one she had recognized in all of this had been Stormflux, but she hadn't seen the femme since, she hoped Ratchet had finished her off but she wasn't about to ask right now.

The redhead ducked another incoming blow, a smaller drone had targeted her, this one was a sword user, it was fast but it was smaller than her and didn't seem to have too much strength to it. She brought her sword around for an upwards strike, the nimble little drone avoided it, bringing his blade towards her, she raised her left arm to block it with the forearm guard before sending a kick towards the small decepticon's chest, her boot met with it's armor and sent it stammering back from her before she brought her sword up for a horizontal strike at the metallic being, she made contact, slashing it across it's side and knocking it to the ground, she wasted no time in bringing her energon sword down to impale the thing through the chest, bringing it to it's end.

She freed her blade from the decepticon's corpse and swept her hair out of her face, she was beginning to wear down, she couldn't keep going at this rate too much longer, her adrenaline high was still going but the body could only take so much before it grew weary, she needed to catch her breath but it didn't seem like she was going to get the chance. She had to keep going, she had always enjoyed pushing her limits and now she had no choice.

Victoria looked back to where Ironhide and Sideswipe had teamed up against a group of decepticons, those two did make a good team, she had to admit that. She watched them for a moment, trying to give herself at least a few moments to catch her breath before continuing. They were much closer to the machine now, having fought through much of the wave of the decepticons that had been guarding the area so far. She looked over as Jolt ran up to her, he had just finish dealing with a few decepticons that had targeted him, She looked behind her hearing something near and saw exactly why he was moving in her direction, she hadn't even realized a decepticon had managed to sneak up on her through all this chaos, she jumped back to avoid an odd mace of some kind that the enemy was wielding, she barely avoided getting crushed as Jolt's whips lashed towards the decepticon, one wrapping around it's throat as the other lashed across it's frame with heavy strikes, dents showing where the whip had made contact. Victoria sheathed her sword and pulled the photon cannon onto her shoulder, it had overheated again earlier but there had been enough time for it to cool by now.

She took aim as the decepticon lifted the mace once more, she set her sights on the enemy's weapon arm, opening fire, Jolt's whips continued to do their work as the opponent struggled with the binding and assaulting chains, Jolt didn't let up, quite the opposite actually, his attacks began coming faster, harder, denting and marring the decepticon's armor with each impact. Victoria kept firing, the blasts from her photon cannon scorching the decepticon's weapon arm. The elbow joint was beginning to give from the abuse, at first it was a slow give but one of Jolt's whip strikes right at the joint was all it took, the arm gave way, the mace in the decepticon's grip slipping from it's hand and falling towards the ground, falling right towards where Victoria was standing. She turned to run from it's path as she heard an engine roar closer followed by the sound of a hastened transformation, she hadn't seen who it was but the next thing she knew someone had grabbed her, pulling her out from the falling mace's path and had their large metal hands cupped around her, she couldn't see anything, it was all moving too fast but she felt the impact of whoever had just helped her hitting the ground.

When the hands moved from around her she was half expecting to see Sideswipe or Ratchet but her face betrayed her surprise when she saw that she had just been helped by a black and white, red opticed mech. Barricade looked at the human before he simply set her on the ground "Don't over think it fleshling." he said as he stood and turned his attention to where Jolt was fighting the decepticon who's mace had almost flattened her. The black and white decepticon attacked, but Jolt wasn't his target, he brought his arms up to bring them crashing into the other decepticon, forcing it's knees to bend before he moved to perform a strong side kick followed up with a heel drop, crushing the mace wielding decepticon's head beneath the force of the attack, it's body going lax as it fell to the ground.

Jolt withdraw his whips and looked towards Barricade with disbelief, the black and white mech just glanced at Jolt before turning back towards the redhead.

'Why?' she signed to the decepticon. Barricade had something between a sneer and a smirk on his face, it occurred to the redhead that Sam had been right, he was one ugly bot.

"I have my reasons." the black and white mech responded before he turned his attention to another group of decepticons who was headed towards them. Victoria looked towards the incoming group as well, there were four of them, three around Jolt's size and one around the size of Sideswipe. Their weapons were out and soon they began firing, Jolt and Barricade charged forward to meet the incoming attackers.

"Just don't stab me in the back Barricade." Jolt said before his whips lashed out, coming in contact with two of the larger enemies and wrapping around their legs before he tugged back, pulling their feet right out from under them.

"Where would be the fun in that autobot scum?" Barricade said as he engaged the third larger attacker, hammering his fists into the other decepticon before jumping up and planting both feet into it's chest in one hell of a forceful kick.

Victoria didn't know why the hell Barricade was helping but so long as he wasn't attacking them she could honestly care less. She set her sights on the fourth, smallest decepticon in the group and gave a small smirk, pushing her cannon into a slung position as she pulled her energon blade from it's sheath and rushed forward. The smaller decepticon grabbed at her, she saw this as a perfect chance to try and get on it. She leapt up, sinking the energon blade into the decepticon's upper arm and using the hilt to swing herself up towards it's shoulder, grabbing on with her free hand to pull herself up and pull her blade free of the enemy's armor. She lowered her stance on the decepticon's shoulder, holding on and leaning away from the hands that tried to grab her, when it's hand got too close she slashed at it with her sword, the blade catching across three of it's fingers and severing them, she heard the decepticon growl in pain before she brought the blade up for the strike she had planned.

She lifted the blade before stabbing forward with all the strength her exoskeleton adorned arm could muster, the blade's tip made contact with the side of the decpeticon's head, impaling through it's equivalent of a skull as it roared in pain, she pulled up on the blade to worsen the wound as she saw the blue lifeblood of the enemy spill from the puncture. The decepticon's body went lax as she pulled the blade free, as the 16 feet tall cybertronian began to fall forward she moved to the back, holding onto it's armor and bracing herself for impact, the blade's tip resting on the falling enemy's back armor for a little extra stability, upon impact with the ground the redhead slipped forward just slightly but the partly embedded blade helped her to keep her footing before she stood, pulling the sword from the downed enemy and smirking to herself a bit.

She had done it, she actually managed to take one of them down by herself, she could do it, she could handle this. Victoria was quite proud of herself at this moment, she had overcome an enemy bigger than herself alone, she didn't care if the others noticed her doing so, she knew she had and that's what mattered. ~That was for you Sara, rest in peace sister.~ she thought as she brought the sword back to it's sheath and moved to jump down from the decepticon's corpse. Once she was back on the ground she turned her attention to where Jolt and Barricade were finishing off the last of the three they had targeted, it was an odd sight, to see a decepticon and an autobot fighting alongside each other. She would have to find out why Barricade was helping them, but now was not the time for that, she could find that out later.

She saw them bring down the last enemy decepticon they had targeted before they turned to where the others were fighting, Victoria also looked, seeing Optimus, Ratchet, Sideswipe, Ironhide and the twins were finishing of the last of this wave of enemies. She broke into a sprint towards them, dodging NEST members before skidding to a halt next to Ironhide as the last of the hostiles in sight fell to the ground.

Ironhide looked down seeing Victoria there, the blood at her clawed cheek had already dried and a mixture of blood, dirt, sweat and energon was smeared across her face, arms and clothes. Ironhide lowered his hand to her and she climbed on before being lifted to his shoulder, she needed this break in the battle, she had to get the chance to catch her breath.

"That was too easy." Ironhide stated as he looked around at the fallen decepticons, Victoria also scanned the area, mostly to see if she could spot Stormflux's body but she didn't see the blue decepticon amongst the corpses, that fact was a deal worrying.

"Think they were drones man?" Epps asked from below.

"They were too large for drones, unless Megatron found a way to make stronger ones." Ratchet stated.

Suddenly all weapons were pointed behind where Ironhide was standing, the weapons specialist turned also, the redhead on his shoulder shifting her weight with the motion to keep balance. Ironhide too raised his cannons upon seeing who was coming up to them.

Sure enough alongside Jolt stood Barricade, the black and white decepticon looked right at the armed autobots and NEST members, the weapons pointed at him didn't seem to even phase him. Jolt stepped forward, though he did not stand between Barricade and the weapons pointed at the decepticon.

"It's alright guys, I think, he was helping me back there." Jolt said.

"Don't trust a decepticon, the name speaks for itself." Ironhide stated with a cannon trained right on the black and white mech's chest.

"Easy Ironhide." Optimus said, glancing at the weapons specialist.

"You gotta be kiddin' me Prime, don't tell me you trust 'im." Ironhide said to the leader.

"I don't need your trust autobot, I just need you to shut up and listen." Barricade hissed.

Optimus regarded the decepticon standing before them for a moment before lowering his weapons "You have my attention Barricade." the large leader said.

"Good. Now, Megatron plans on using that machine over there. . ." he began, an arm lashing out to point at the contraption built in the crevice of the mountain. ". . .To bring the Fallen back, or at least that's what he'd have all of us think. No, that's not his plan at all, what he intends to do is to merge the power still contained in the Fallen with his own, to make himself unstoppable, but to do that he needs the fragment in that fleshling's throat, it is the only thing that can activate the machine, without it he can't claim the power of the Fallen for his own. Now, I normally I wouldn't be against this but there's more at stake. He won't stop there, he intends to add the power of every decepticon to his own, killing each of us to become a god, to have absolute power. I kind of have a problem with that, being absorbed isn't something I'm too keen about."

"How do you know this?" Optimus asked.

"Megatron has a habit of monologuing when he thinks no one is watching, I happened to overhear him." Barricade answered "Do not think this means I'm joining you, consider me freelance for the time being, your interests just happen to correspond with mine at the moment."

Victoria gave a heavy sigh hearing this, she looked towards Barricade, they had some break in the battle, she had to know why he protected her so she brought her hands up to sign 'Tell me this Barricade, back there, why did you move me out of the way of that mace? No matter if I am alive or dead you only have to keep the fragment out of his grasp, so why save my life?'

"Call it a fallback plan, you're the allspark's host, you don't think it's going to let you go that easy, do you?" the black and white mech replied.

Victoria tilted her head a bit at that 'What's that supposed to mean?' she signed.

"You'll just have to find out." Barricade said before turning towards where the machine was "What are you idiots waiting for, trust me, there's more decepticons coming, don't waste time!"

The autobots and NEST members looked to each other for a moment, some had lowered their weapons at this point but many of them had not, Ironhide's gaze, however, never left Barricade, nor did his aim. It was not until Optimus spoke that the weapons specialist finally lowered at least one of his cannons.

"It's the best chance we have, if what he says is true then he has every reason to work with us, if it is a trick. . ." Optimus looked right at Barricade as he spoke his next words ". . .then we will react accordingly."

Ironhide finally lowered his second cannon "If he does turn on us, I claim first shot." the weapons specialist commented before looking towards the redhead on his shoulder, he finally noticed the cuts running across her face and brought a hand up to very lightly trace a finger down her cheek, Victoria gave a small, sharp inhale at the contact, pulling her head away from the touch a bit. "Sorry." Ironhide said to her.

'It's alright, it'll heal, just tender right now.' she signed before looking to him. The others had already begun towards the device, Victoria and Ironhide followed, it wasn't too far from where they currently were though Victoria highly expected an ambush at any moment and she had a feeling so did everyone else.

* * *

Victoria couldn't help but look up at the massive machine before them, it was three times Optimus's height, at it's base laid a dust covered, slightly rust covered cybertronian body, the redhead couldn't be certain but it looked as if the guy's face was ripped off. Ironhide kept looking around the area as did Ratchet and many of the NEST members, it seemed everyone was expecting an ambush of some sort.

"So, any ideas on how to knock it down?" Will asked.

"Yea, shoot it." Ironhide said as his lifted his cannons up at the thing.

"You don't want to do that, some of the materials it's made out of are a bit volatile. We have to disable it then take it apart, carefully." Barricade said.

"He is correct, it contains many radioactive chemicals, some quite explosive, if we shot it, it would be the equivalent of a small thermonuclear bomb, to compare to a human explosive." Ratchet said, Victoria assumed he had just scanned the structure and Ironhide lowered his cannons after learning this bit of information.

"Do you know how to disable it?" Sideswipe asked, looking towards Barricade.

"If I did do you think I would even need you?" Barricade responded.

"Well well, what do we have here?" came a familiar voice from within one of the large cracks of the carved out mountain, Megatron's form came forth from the shadows of the hiding spot, behind him stood Soundwave, Starscream, another decepticon who looked like he may be a jet and a large purple decepticon she had not yet seen who appeared to have parts on him which would hinted at him having a helicopter alternative mode. "I'm disappointed in you Barricade." Megatron said before his gaze moved to the redhead sitting on Ironhide's shoulder "Ah, but you did deliver the final piece of my plan to me." he said walking forward, Ironhide raised his cannons towards the decepticon leader as the energy hummed through them, ready to fire. Victoria lifted her hand to pull her own cannon onto her shoulder as she flipped the switch to get the weapon ready, she heard it hum to life as she took aim on the dark grey decepticon.

Barricade didn't respond to Megatron, instead he looked to the two decepticons Victoria didn't recognize "Skywarp, Shockwave, I told you what he's going to do, are you still going to follow him?" he asked his former comrades.

"Why should me and Shockwave take your word over Megatron's? Answer me that Barricade." the second jet decepticon asked.

"I know what I heard." Barricade said.

"What you heard, not what we heard." the one Victoria figured was Shockwave stated as they began to move forward.

"You ain't touchin' 'er!" Ironhide warned as the rest raised their weapons. Much to Victoria's surprise, even Barricade readied himself for attack, so far it seemed he really did mean what he had said about being freelance.

"You won't win this Megatron. I cannot allow you to harm her." Optimus said as he lowered his stance for attack as well.

"I never said you had a choice Prime!" Megatron said as he motioned for the others to attack, the four behind him sprung into action, Starscream lunged towards Ratchet as Soundwave began towards Optimus, Skywarp leapt at where Barricade and Jolt stood and Shockwave moved for the twins. It was Megatron himself who took the offensive against Ironhide, Sideswipe moved behind the weapons specialist, he reached up to where Victoria was on Ironhide's shoulder.

"Go with 'im Vic!" Ironhide said to her, the redhead nodded and jumped onto Sideswipe's hand, the silver mech, protectively curled his fingers around her a bit and turned to get back as Megatron came down on Ironhide. Victoria dropped to one knee in Sideswipe's palm, taking aim at Megatron between the silver autobot's fingers and opening fire, she sent at least five shots from her cannon which collided with Megatron's chest as he moved to attack Ironhide, she saw her lover dodge the first attack and his cannons flared to life, sending shot after shot towards the decepticon leader.

Sideswipe turned and began to skate off with the redhead in his hand, she tried to look back to where Ironhide was confronting Megatron, she wanted so much to get a clear shot, she couldn't stand it, the mech she loved, the one person in this world she cared about more than anyone else in this life was facing an enemy who was strong enough to kill him and she was being pulled away from the fight. She wanted to fight besides him, to lend the support she could, not be forced to run, she had come here to fight for this, she had already fought pass decepticon after decepticon, she did not come all this way just to run now.

Victoria was looking behind them so it came as a surprise to her when Sideswipe came to a halt. She glanced back to see Stormflux, as battle torn as she was, as much punishment as she had taken, somehow this decepticon was still standing. She had another weapon in her hand, a small cannon that looked like she had picked it up off of one of her fallen comrades.

"Give up the girl autobot, she has a date with destiny." Stormflux said, a maddened chuckle coming from the femme at the statement.

"Well destiny sure wouldn't want to date you, you look like slag." Sideswipe retorted, OK, even Vic would say that wasn't his best comeback but there was a lot going on right now so she had to give him credit for the attempt.

Stormflux grinned at the silver mech "Let's dance pretty boy." she said before opening fire, Sideswipe quickly swerved to dodge, being mindful of Victoria so he didn't drop her. Victoria didn't know what kind of blasts that cannon was shooting but the impact they made when they hit the ground made her very glad that Sideswipe was good at dodging.

The femme then surprised both of them, somehow, with all her damage, she bolted forth in a literal blur, the sound of some kind of boosters or something of the like was able to be heard before she slammed into Sideswipe full on and knocked him to the ground, he tried to hold on to Victoria without hurting her but the impact was far too sudden and the redhead was sent tumbling from the silver mech's hand, she landed with a thud on the ground before moving to get to her feet, her hand came to her cannon and she moved to aim for the femme but Stormflux moved forward once more, snatching the redhead right from the ground, Victoria struggled in the decepticon's grasp as she brought her cannon to aim the best she could and opened fire, the shot hit the femme's shoulder and excited a hiss from the decepticon.

"Oh I'm going to get you for that, you're going to be alive when that machine activates you pest!" Stormflux said as she squeezed Victoria in her grasp harshly, the redhead felt ribs crack under the pressure, her face contorted from the pain as she tried her best to be able to breath under despite the harsh constriction.

"LET HER GO!" Sideswipe shouted before the femme turned to him.

"Tell your little friends to lay down their weapons or I will kill her right in front of you." Stormflux said as Victoria managed to get another shot off, one which grazed the side of the femme's head, this decepticon would kill her and she knew it, there was a good chance this was the end, she had been captured, she had come all this way just to fall into their hands. Sideswipe tried to protect her but he hadn't expected this, he didn't know Stormflux had an ability like that, Vic couldn't hold that against him, he had tried his best and she was thankful for it even if she had gotten capture.

Stormflux flung her remaining arm to the side, knocking the redhead against the nearby wall of the carved out nook, had she a voice she would have growled as she heard her right collarbone snap on impact, the pain soon followed shooting through her and causing her to give a muted yell in pain, her mouth opened without sound. That was the shoulder her photon cannon was on, without it she couldn't even fire.

Stormflux began to back up "Think I'm joking autobot, go on, test me, please, so I can see your face when I crush her." the femme taunted.

"Don't you dare hurt her again!" Sideswipe said as his blades extended but he didn't attack. Stormflux just laughed at him.

"How weak, letting a bug like this stop you from attacking." Stormflux said as she began to walk backwards and towards the battle. "Hey Lord Megatron, I got the little glitch!" the femme shouted back as she made her way nearer the larger fight.

Victoria glanced towards the battle with a great amount of pain for her actions, she saw Megatron push Ironhide out of the way as if he was nothing before leaping up and running towards where the femme was holding the redhead.

"Give it to me." Megatron said as Stormflux handed her to him, Victoria tried to use the opportunity to leap from their grasps only to have Megatron's other hand catch her and close around her, pinning her right arm to her side in the process and causing a torrential pain to shoot through her from her ribs and collarbone "Still alive too I see, good, the machine would work even if she was dead but it'll be much more satisfying if it kills her in the process. You've done well Stormflux, very well indeed." the decepticon leader said as the redhead struggled in his grasp. It was useless, she couldn't free herself but she would be damned if she was going to stop trying. Megatron lifted the redhead to optic level and looked at her for a moment.

"For a human you certainly are a lot of trouble, do you have any idea how many of my troops I lost because of you? No matter, you will be paying for it shortly." he said as he turned back towards where the machine was, breaking into a run towards it, Ironhide had gotten back up to his feet at this point and charged towards Megatron, though he froze upon seeing the red haired woman struggling in the decepticon's grasp. Megatron smirked at Ironhide "That's what I thought." he said before beginning for the machine once more.

"PRIME! MEGATRON'S GOT VIC!" Ironhide yelled to the autobot leader, Victoria heard Optimus yell something in response but she couldn't make out what it was he said.

"Decepticons! We have our prize!" Megatron announced to his troops as he came to a stop at the base of the machine. At that the decepticons fell back from the battle and joined Megatron, the fire from the autobots continued for a small time before dying down as they all realized what had happened and noticed the redhead in Megatron's grasp, weapons remained trained on the decepticon leader as the autobot's regrouped, every weapon, be they in the hands of an autobot or a NEST member, remained locked on Megatron. Victoria kept trying to free herself from his grasp, her metal covered left hand, the only hand she had free, pounding at the decepticon's fingers around her though to no avail. She was trapped, today was going to be her end she was sure of it, it was hopeless. She finally stopped struggling, the pain was so much, she needed to conserve energy just in case an opportunity presented itself, which Victoria highly doubted at this point.

She looked to where her friends were, her new family, those she had come to trust, she looked over to Sideswipe, the one she had come to call brother, his face looked so conflicted, as if he didn't know if he should attack or hope that Megatron changed his mind, but she knew, he knew, they all knew the decepticon leader would go through with his plan if not stopped and she didn't think they knew any way to stop him without bringing her death. She looked from face to face, those of her newfound friends in NEST, those of the autobots she saw as family now, almost all of their faces reflected the same confliction she saw in Sideswipe's. Finally her gaze settled on Ironhide, the one she had grown to love, the one who's arms she wished she was in right now, the one that had given her a real reason to live. She reached for him but she knew she could not touch him, that Megatron would kill her if Ironhide took even a step closer, but still she reached towards him, her only free arm outstretched as if she could actually touch him.

She felt the tears well up in her eyes, not from the pain or the fear of death but because she was leaving him against her will, because she was being taken from him, she wanted with every ounce of her being to call out to him, to say the words just once before she was torn from this world but her muteness robbed her of that simple last wish.

~So this is it then? So this is how it all ends?~

* * *

**Author's note:**

_And she had been doing so well, that Stormflux is a troublesome one. Also, yes, Megatron never intended to bring back the Fallen but to claim his power for himself, after all, Megatron wants power and control, I didn't think he would actually want to compete for it with the Fallen, so why not just take his power for himself eh?_

_Yes, she has been caught, this is what it all boils down to, she is in Megatron's grasps, they attack and Megatron can crush her, ending her life instantly, they don't and Megatron puts her into the device and activates it while she is still ALIVE so she would feel all the pain of it. Then there's the wildcard factor, Barricade. He knows something no one else seems to but he sure is keeping that secret, now isn't he?_

_Anyways, thank you to all who have reviewed, I love knowing that you guys are enjoying it and yes, this update was not near as fast as the last one but hey, least it wasn't a very long wait either eh? Hope you enjoy this chapter and till next time ya'll!_


	13. One yet many

None of them expected this, she had avoided attack after attack, fought alongside them against their age old enemy, she had taken down decepticons in this battle, stood at their side, watched their back as they watched hers, but now, it was all in vain. They had been so close, they had made it to their goal but only to stumble at the finish line. Victoria tried to push free again but her strength was leaving her, her vision was starting to blur as she felt sickened. Had they really come all this way and gone through all of this for nothing?

Megatron stepped back towards the machine, his decepticon's moving in front of him with their weapons up, ready to act as a barrier for any of the autobots who may try to interfere. Ironhide moved as if he was going to charge only to be met with Soundwave's weapon aimed for him. Victoria kept her eyes on Ironhide, she had failed, the decepticons had what they wanted and it was all because she refused to stay out of the battle, had she not pushed, had she just let them guard her, maybe this would have never happened.

Stormflux stood beside Megatron, she moved back a bit more, coming to stand near a part of the machine. The decepticon leader turned to the femme, holding the redhead out to her. "You know what to do." he told her as the femme took Victoria from the dark grey mech, the redhead tried once more to use the moment he handed her off to escape, she didn't care about hitting the ground, she had a chance of surviving that, but alas, Lady luck was not on her side today.

Stormflux gripped the redhead tightly once she was in the femme's hand, the grasp harsh, sending another wave of pain through Victoria as she pounded her metal covered fist against Stormflux's wrist, trying to grasp anything on her which could be used to pull herself free. "You're more trouble then you're worth human, let's fix that shall we?" Stormflux said as she opened a compartment of some kind on the machine.

"It'll activate as soon as it senses the allspark fragment so place her inside quickly." Megatron said, Stormflux nodded with a smirkish grin.

The femme reached her only remaining hand inside, moving to place Victoria within the contraption. This was Vic's last chance, if she was going down she was going to try and bring this decepticon bitch with her, the moment Stormflux's hand loosened enough the redhead brought her left hand to the energon blade at her hip, they had been foolish not to disarm her, she pulled the weapon from it's sheath as quickly as she could as she heard the machine she was now within begin to emit an electric hum. As pained as she was, as battered and beaten, she was going to leave one last mark before they took her out, Victoria lunged forward as Stormflux tried to withdraw her hand, she sunk the energon blade into the decepticon femme's wrist joint, using every bit of pained strength she had going into it as the blade went all the way through Stormflux's and punctured into the metal of the chamber she was in.

She heard the yell of pain from Stormflux as the femme's wrist was trapped in the machine, the sound of cannon fire exploded from outside, battle kicked up again but the redhead couldn't see it and soon she wouldn't hear it either. As she tried to run pass the pinned femme's arm the machine she was in activated, bolts of electricity shot out at her, her body felt like it was on fire as the energy coursed through her, the pain was worse at her throat where the fragment resided. She couldn't move, she couldn't feel anything but the pain, when she thought it couldn't get any worse she was proven wrong. Suddenly her throat felt as if steel razor wire had branched out through every nerve leading away from the fragment's resting place in her flesh, her vision flashed white as her body collapsed beneath her, the last sound she heard before falling into darkness was the last thing she had ever expected to hear: her own scream.

* * *

The pain was gone but so was everything else, she heard nothing, there was no light as she opened her eyes, nothing but absolute stillness as she stood. Was she even really standing? She looked around but there was nothing to even look at, just a still, dark void.

"'Ello?" she shouted before her hand came to her throat, she was beyond shocked, had she just used her voice? She felt the odd warmth upon the skin of her neck, it was the allspark fragment's doing, it had to be.

She kept looking about franticly before finally another voice cut through the darkness, it was gentle, soothing, if she had to guess she would say it sounded female but it held a peaceful echo to it. "Do not be afraid dear." the voice said as the redhead looked about for the source.

Soon a ball of blue, glowing energy slowly faded into existence not too far from her, the light blue light it emitted provided the only light in this darkness. The ball of energy hovered around her as she followed it's path with her gaze, almost as if it was inspecting her just as she was inspecting it.

"You shouldn't be here." the gentle voice said to her as others similar to it began to flicker into existence, these were not nearly as bright as the first but they we just as beautiful, each hovering around her, she could hear the choir of rhythmic, pulsing hums, the orbs themselves looked as if they were pulsing with the very energy they were made up of.

Victoria decided to try to talk again, she had managed to in this place before, perhaps she really did have her voice here, wherever here was. "What are you? Whaddya mean I shouldn't be here? Jus' where is here?" she asked as she looked to the brightest orb before pausing, she had just realized what these orbs hovering about were, the hum they emitted, the pulsation of the energy, she finally put it together ~They're sparks?~ she thought to herself.

"You just answered your first question." another voice said, one of the other sparks glowing brighter as the male voice sounded before it dimmed to it's previous glow.

"Wait, ya mean ya can hear my thoughts?" the redhead asked.

The nearest and brightest of them glowed even brighter as that kind, female voice came once more "We are all connected here, autobot, decepticon, neutral cybertronian, it does not matter once we leave the physical world, we are all separate but connected, our memories and our knowledge becomes one. Since you are here we can hear your thoughts as we can hear those of every one of us. You should not even be here, this is not the resting place of your people."

"If I'm not supposed to be here then jus' how did I end up wherever here is?" Victoria asked.

"I. . .do not know, only the allspark has the answer to that." the calming voice said.

"Allspark? The fragment." Vic said under her breath as she touched her fingers to where the glyphs were on her throat.

"The glyphs. . ." a younger sounding voice said from one of the smaller sparks.

"We must send you back, Time is of the essence!" the calm voice stated as it and the sparks surrounding her moved forward, more seemed to flicker into existence within the dark void as they gathered around her, she looked around at them not really knowing how to react as they all began to glow just as brightly as the first one, a network of energy branching across each spark.

"Jus' how y'all plan on doing that?" Victoria asked as she became surrounded by the glowing network the sparks had created.

"It is the will of the Allspark." the gentle voice said before the glow from the sparks began to blur together, she felt an overwhelming sensation wash over her, a mixture of every emotion she had ever known and some she had never experienced before, it was wonderful and terrible at the same time, soon the light grew into perfect white only to fade as the hum of the many sparks grew silent.

* * *

The sounds of battle, she could hear them again as her eyes snapped open, how long had she been out? The energy of the machine was still crackling around her but it was no longer penetrating her, the pain was no longer there, Stormflux's trapped arm had grown still within the machine's chamber, she looked towards the opening and saw that though Stormflux was still there the femme looked as if she had been put into stasis lock. Victoria moved to her feet, the tendrils of energy lashing out at her only to withdraw upon growing near. She put her hand out towards the energy only to see it move away from her. She didn't understand it but she was awake now, this wasn't over after all.

She turned to where her sword was stuck in Stormflux's wrist and moved to grab the hilt and pull it free, however the moment her hand made contact with the blade's handle a burst of energy from the machine shot forward into her and the stilled decepticon's hand, the energy coursing between them, using the sword as the conduction point. The redhead tensed though she couldn't move her hand from the hilt of the sword, her whole body tingled, her skin feeling taunt as a sharp pain shot through every bone in her body, a sudden pain gripped her throat as the decepticon femme's hand started to twitch from the energy. The pain in Victoria's throat grew more intense before the sensation shot down into her chest, a burning sensation came over her as she opened her mouth to scream, much to her surprise sound did come forth as she felt as if her chest was being torn to shreds, she fell to one knee, her hand still stuck on the sword's hilt as she took heaving breaths, the pain began to subside as the energy of the machine withdraw from her once more though it began to crackle even more violently.

She finally managed to get herself to her feet, pulling the energon sword free of the decepticon's wrist before she turned back to where the energy was, she looked over it as she tried to ignore the odd, warm feeling in her chest that still lingered. After a second she saw what looked to be the source in the chamber the energy was coming from, she moved forward, raising her blade before plunging the energon sword into the odd component the energy seemed to be coming from. The crackling electricity stopped once the piece was impaled. She turned from that area of the chamber and walked to the opening, climbing onto Stormflux's arm in order to get through to the outside.

Once she was in the light again she saw what she had heard, the autobots had decided to fight to the end once she was captured, Ironhide was fighting with ruthless aggression as was Sideswipe besides him, Prime had taken on Megatron since the machine had deactivated. Victoria brought her hand to where her broken collarbone should be only to find there was no pain, the bone didn't even feel broken anymore, she looked over herself to see if any of her other injuries had been healed, her ribs didn't hurt anymore though the cuts across her skin were still there. She looked to her left hand, closing the fist for a moment, it was still feelingless but it looked like much of the metal exoskeleton had bonded with her skin and that tight, near burning sensation was still present in her chest but she would worry about that later. She was alive and there was still a battle to be fought.

"Unbe-fucking-lievable." she muttered, she felt her vocal cords vibrate with the sound of those words, her vocal cords which had been stilled and damaged for so long, the allspark had decided to return her voice to her, to return her to the world of the living, she was not about to waste this, most people only got a second chance, she was getting a third, she had been right in what she thought before they left for this mission, this was a new chapter in her life.

She stood there on the unconscious Stormflux's shoulder, the femme was leaned against the machine, she looked over the battlefield a moment before her eyes narrowed, this wasn't over, but it would be soon. She moved to climb down Stormflux as quickly as she could, dropping the last few feet to the ground before she rushed forward, pulling the photon pulse cannon down onto her shoulder in the process as she kept the energon sword in her left hand. She wasted no time in joining Ironhide and Sideswipe's fight against Shockwave, blasts coming from the photon cannon at her shoulder, part of her was surprised the thing still worked after all of that but as long as it could keep firing she wasn't going to question it. Ironhide sent a strong double blast into the decepticon's frame as Victoria's photon bursts made contact with Shockwave's frame, the decepticon stumbled back and Ironhide chanced a glance back towards where her weapon fire had come from, his face betrayed his surprise at seeing her standing there.

"Didya miss me?" she said with a smile, Ironhide's look of surprise grew even greater at the fact she had actually spoken, he had never heard her voice before so she figured this was quite a surprise to him. "Before ya ask I ain't got a clue how this happened, we'll figure it out later, right now, let's jus' survive." she said before taking aim on Shockwave once more, Ironhide nodded as he too turned his weapons on the decepticon once again, Shockwave moved to bring a gun of some kind on Ironhide but he was soon met by the firing of three cannons towards his chest as Sideswipe jumped up from behind the decepticon and brought his right blade up for the strike before jabbing forward, the blade piercing the decepticon's chest in a brilliant display of sparks, what she had seen before returning to the physical world flashed through her mind, no matter what side they were on they all ended up wherever she had been, no longer enemies but a network of sparks, individual yet united at the same time, one but many.

Shockwave fell to the ground as his optics dimmed and Ironhide turned his attention to the redhead once more before moving and lifting her into his hand as she sheathed her sword, holding her to his chest for a moment. "I thought I lost you." he said looking down towards her, his hold on her firm but careful as not to hurt her.

"Like I'd really be that easy to get rid of, sorry babe but ya kinda stuck with me." she said as she grabbed onto his chest armor, the battle was still raging all around them, as much as she wanted it, this moment of being in his hands couldn't last, now was not the time, they still had to survive the day.

Ironhide likely realized the same as he set her down "Lets help the others." he said as he turned to where the twins and Ratchet were contending with Starscream. He began towards that fight and came to stand besides Ratchet, Victoria followed right behind him as did Sideswipe, the twins were working together pretty well, Mudflap and Skids were going after Starscream's weapons, trying to disable them as Ratchet was keeping laser fire on the decepticon, Ironhide's weapons soon flared on Starscream, a torrent of blasts being sent right towards the decepticon's chest as Sideswipe began to make strikes at the enemy's legs. Victoria brought her cannon to aim as well, smirking slightly as she set her sights on the dorito of a decepticon's ugly face and opened fire, her aim seemed more accurate now, all three shots she sent forth hit dead on their target.

Starscream reeled back as the blasts met his face, he ripped Mudflap and Skidz off his frame, throwing them right towards Ironhide and Ratchet, while the medic caught Skidz, Ironhide just stepped to the side and let Mudflap have a rough meeting with the ground.

"That ain't cool man." Mudflap said as he got back to his feet, Ironhide didn't even respond and continued firing on Starscream until the decepticon coward leapt into the air and transformed, activating his engines and flying off as cannon blasts from both Ironhide and Victoria followed him.

"That motha fucker really is a coward." Victoria said as she lowered her cannon and looked back towards Mudflap "Are ya a'right and did it knock any sense into ya?" she asked him.

"Yo man, I'm good. Vic? Since when did yo ass start talkin'?" Mudflap asked.

"Bout the time I climbed outta that fucking machine, now ain't the time to play twenty questions, we gotta finish thinning the herd." the redhead said, she glanced about, they were winning, only three decepticons were currently in fighting order now, Skywarp, Soundwave and Megatron, the decepticon leader must have realized how few of his troops he had remaining as well as he jumped back from where he had been locked in combat with Optimus.

"Decpticons! Fall back!" he shouted as he transformed into his cybertronian jet form and took to the sky, Skywarp followed suit as Soundwave grabbed on to Skywarp and hitched a ride out of there.

The sounds of cheering and whistles filled the air from the NEST troops, though a few of the autobots also joined in on the cheering, even Victoria raised a fist into the air in victory "Now that's what I'm talkin' bout! Heeells yea!" she shouted, she actually shouted, she truly did have her voice back, after all these years she had regained what she lost so long ago and she was going to use it. She smiled, a true smile as she turned back to where Ironhide was standing, she switched off her cannon and pushed it into the slung position at her back before taking off in a full out sprint towards Ironhide, he bent down seeing her incoming and lowered his hand to her but she didn't climb on, instead she jumped right up to his chest and grabbed on, pulling herself to him as she felt his hands come up to cup over her, she felt his frame vibrate as a laugh, not a chuckle or half hearted laugh, but a real laugh came from the black mech, he smiled to her as she gave a bit of a laugh herself, it was an odd feeling for her, after so many years of nothing she could feel her vocals vibrate from every sound, there was no pain when she spoke, just her voice, even if it was ever so slightly deeper than most women's, it held a mature but still youthful tone, she was just glad she had it back and that now, she could actually say what she had wanted to verbalize before.

"I love ya Ironhide." she said as she smiled up at him, pulling herself as close to his frame as she was able, she felt his thumb lightly stroke the back of her hair as he returned the smile.

"I love you too Victoria." he said as he finally lifted her from where she was at his chest, moving her towards his shoulder where she climbed up to have a seat. She held on with her left hand as her right rested on the horn like part on the side of his head, the battle seemed to be over, finally, after everything, after all that had occurred, it seemed they had won.

"We still need to disable the device." Barricade said, drawing the attention of those around him, Victoria and Ironhide also looked that way.

"Barricade, I got a question for ya." Victoria shouted toward the black and white mech, Barricade looked towards the redhead as a few others, including Optimus, Ratchet and Jolt also looked towards her with a bit of surprise.

"What is it fleshling?" Barricade asked, he actually didn't seem too surprised at her sudden regaining of her voice.

"First off, don't call me fleshling ya glitch, second off, how the hell did you know?" she asked.

"I didn't, call it an educated guess. And do not call me a glitch again." he said pointing at her.

"Then don't call me a damned fleshling, I got a name ya know." she responded with.

"Very well, so long as you do not call me a glitch I will refrain from referring to you as fleshling, have we an agreement?" Barricade asked.

"Yea, I think I can agree to that." she said.

"Good. Now. . ." Barricade began before turning to move towards the device ". . .let's tear this thing down so I can get the slag out of here." he said before walking towards the machine, the others began to move towards the structure as well.

Ironhide looked over towards the redhead on his shoulder was he too walked towards the machine "When did you pick up on cybertronian insults?" he asked her, Victoria just smirked a bit.

"Ya got yaself to thank for that one babe, I hear 'em enough from you to get the gist of what they mean by now." she said, Ironhide chuckled a bit, shaking his head at her. They made it to the structure as Optimus, Ratchet and Jolt began to look over the device, it wasn't long until they began to carefully deconstruct it.

* * *

It was nearing nightfall, the sky had already began to grow dim as the sun settled on the horizon. The machine had been pretty much torn down and air lifts were coming to collect the parts and the body of the Fallen which still laid on the ground, whatever happened to her had happened before the machine had been able to serve it's purpose, from her understanding they were going to be rid of the Fallen's body so there could be no second attempts. Now everyone, both NEST and autobots, finally had a chance to rest after the day's events. Well, everyone except for Ratchet who was working on repairing the others, he had seen to Ironhide's damage already, it turns out Ironhide had taken a pretty bad hit in the battle but hadn't even noticed it. Thankfully Ratchet was damned good at what he did, Ironhide had been patched up in no time.

Ironhide was currently sitting on one of the larger rocks, Victoria was sitting on his thigh, his hand gently cupped at her back as she leaned back and looked at the darkening horizon. It was not long before they saw the black and white police car that was Barricade zoom pass them as he took his leave, the former decepticon had made it clear he wasn't going to stick around so Victoria didn't find his sudden departure too surprising, she could only wish him luck out there and hope he really did stay freelance, he had shown he could be at least a decent guy today so there was some hope for him.

"How are you feeling Victoria?" Ratchet's voice came from near her and Ironhide, pulling the redhead from her thoughts as she looked over towards the medic.

"Doing a'right, got some weird tight kinda feeling in my chest but that might jus' be 'cause of strain." she said, she couldn't help but smile, she was still overjoyed to have her voice back, it was going to make her life so much easier, it was true, some things you don't miss until they are gone.

"I'll run a scan on you to be certain." Ratchet said as he inspected her, his face looked pensive for a moment before a slight look of disbelief showed on his features. "It's not possible. . ." the medic said.

Ironhide looked right towards Ratchet when he heard him say that "What ain't possible Ratch? Somethin' wrong with 'er?" Ironhide asked as his fingers curled loosely around the redhead.

"What's up Ratch? I mean, I feel a'right for the most part, something else there we don't know bout?" the redhead asked as she brought a hand up to rest on one of Ironhide's large fingers, he glanced at her with a small smile feeling the contact.

"Well, nothing is wrong, per say. The allspark fragment seems to have vanished from your throat altogether and the glyphs are faded as well. However, it seems your voice was not the only thing you gained from it's departure. I do not know quite how it is possible but your skeletal structure now has a cybertronian alloy running through the middle of where the bone marrow is and, even more unbelievable, that feeling in your chest Victoria, it's. . ." Ratchet paused for a moment.

"It's what, cmon Ratch, don't stop mid sentence like that cause it sounds kinda important." the redhead said.

"It's a spark Victoria, somehow you have a spark within you now, a chamber for it seems to have formed next to your heart, connecting to the alloy running within your ribs so it's stable." Ratchet said as Victoria's face pretty much dropped.

"WHAT!? Ya gotta be shittin' me, how the flying fuck did that happen?" she said before she paused for a moment "After I came to, when I went to pull the sword from Stormflux's wrist, the weird feeling and pain. Do ya think it caused some kinda energy transfer or something?" she asked.

"The allspark could create life from nothing, you were it's host Victoria but you were already alive. I cannot be sure but it may have been trying to change you but was unable to due to interruption or perhaps it realizing that a complete change would kill you. I cannot be certain but the one thing I can tell you is that you do hold some cybertronian qualities now yet you are still very much human at the same time." the medic said.

"As long as she's alive, that's what matters." Ironhide stated.

"Yea, fact that I ain't six foot under is comforting in and of itself, still, when all this is handled, think ya can try and figure out jus' how much of a change happened? I mean, hell, if I'mma live with any kinda partial change, can ya really blame me for wanting to know jus' what I should expect from it?" Victoria asked.

"No, I cannot blame you for that and once we return I will see to it." Ratchet answered her before the sounds of jet engines and helicopter rotor beats came from above. All three of their gazes went to the sky as the air transport flew towards them, Victoria stood up on Ironhide's thigh and looked as the transport grew nearer, she couldn't help but smile a bit as she saw the markings of the NEST team proudly painted on the sides of the incoming planes.

She gave a relieved sigh "Time to go home boys." the redhead said before she felt a very light nudge from one of Ironhide's fingers.

"Who you callin' boy, I'm a lot older than you." Ironhide said in slight jest towards her, she just looked back towards him with a grin.

"Yea, ya right, but ya also older than human civilization as a whole, so watch it." she shot back with.

"Hey, you're the one datin' an old mech." Ironhide reminded her, Victoria gave a laugh at that as she moved to begin climbing up his chest in order to get optic level with him.

"Yes I am, but ya sure don't seem to mind having a younger woman." she said with a smirk "B'sides, ya might be old but ya still got a lotta life left in ya." she added before smiling at him, he returned the smile as he brought a hand up to her back and ran a large finger carefully down her spine.

"You would know." Ironhide responded as he winked an optic at her, Victoria couldn't help the guilty grin that came to her face at that, OK, she didn't have a comeback for that one so Ironhide had won this round.

The sudden sigh from Ratchet caused Victoria to look towards the medic, surprisingly he actually had a rather amused look on his face. "You two are going to drive the rest of us to wit's end, I say." the medic stated with a chuckle as the air transport landed near them. Victoria climbed the rest of the way up onto Ironhide's shoulder and took a seat as he stood and the began towards the carrier plane. This battle had been won, it was time to be able to actually relax and actually get to spend time with those she cared for without the fear of constant attack.

* * *

It had been three weeks after the battle in Australia, all the cuts had healed up by now, many had left new scars across her body but she didn't mind, these were scars she could carry with pride, they were not gained from reckless actions nor from natural disasters beyond her control but from her standing for a cause, fighting for a real reason, for those she cared about. The scars across her right cheek were by far the most noticeable but it was not as if they mattered, those she cared for looked pass the marks on her flesh and the one she had come to visit today wouldn't have cared either, even if she would have yelled at her for getting hurt.

Victoria looked towards the white marble headstone, the name engraved on it in beautiful, flowing text, Sara's family had done well choosing a headstone that suited the angel that was set to rest here. Victoria dropped to one knee, the yellow roses in her hand bound with a red ribbon at their stems, she stretched her hand out and placed the flowers in the vase built into the headstone as she ran her feeling fingers over the engraved name of Sara Marcel.

"I fought them Sara, they didn't get away with what they did to ya sister, my only regret is that, no matter how many of them we kill, it can't bring ya back. I hope the afterlife is everything ya always believed it would be, ya deserve paradise after putting up with me for so long." Victoria spoke, she didn't believe in God or heaven but Sara had and, right now, she hoped that whatever the afterlife Sara was in was, that it was a paradise for her. The redhead gave a heavy sigh, lowering her gaze to the ground "Happy birthday Sis, I just wish we could celebrate this one together as we always did." she said before she felt a hand on her shoulder, she looked up to Ironhide's holoform as he stood behind her, moving to rest her hand on top of his and give a light squeeze.

"I wish ya woulda had the chance to know 'er, she was an angel on earth." Victoria said as she stood, turning to face Ironhide's holoform before she wrapped her arms around him and rested her head at his shoulder, sure it had been months but Sara's death did still hurt, even if the redhead wouldn't show that pain to anyone besides her lover, in him she could confide but to the rest she would still shield her pain, it was simply how she was.

"I know Vic, I know." he said as his arms encompassed her and he leaned down to kiss her forehead. "It's your birthday too you know, come on, the others are waitin' for us."

Victoria lifted her head from his shoulder and looked up to him "Yea, Sara would kick my ass if she knew I let her not being there bring me down today." she said with a small half smile.

Ironhide's holoform smiled at her before motioning to his nearby alternative mode "Cmon you." he said as he started to move towards his topkick form, the door opening before he climbed in, Vic followed behind him, taking the provided opportunity to smack him in the rear in the process. "Hey, what was that for?" Ironhide asked as he took a seat on the driver's side and the engine started up.

"Well ya had it sticking up, what else did ya expect from me babe?" she said as she settled into the passenger seat and gave him a mischievous grin, Ironhide reached over with his holoform to give her a playful shove to the arm before she did the same right back "Hey, don't ya start that again, remember what happened las' time." she said pointing a finger at him.

"Yea, Ratch's still upset at me for that." Ironhide said with a chuckle.

"I still don't get why it's you he's mad at bout it, it was me who took out his side mirror after all." Vic said as she got the seatbelt in place, the one debate that they no longer had with her, besides, Ironhide would just slip it over her himself if she didn't just put it on.

"Yea, but Ratch likes to blame me for things, you should know that by now. Plus I was the one who shoved you into his mirror." Ironhide responded with as they began to leave. After the events in Australia they had learned that the partial change had made the redhead a bit sturdier due to the metal running though her skeletal system now, meaning she and Ironhide ended up getting into playful shoving wars when he was using his holoform, it wasn't uncommon for one of them to be walking alongside the other and suddenly get shoved into a wall or, as Victoria had a habit of doing to Ironhide, into a doorframe though Ironhide did get her back for that one many times. Most of the changes to her body were small, she was still essentially human, her skin was slightly tougher but she could still be cut, she was still mostly flesh and blood with the exception of the metal running through her bones now which added a decent amount of reinforcement to her structure and the exoskeleton arm had fused with the skin of her left arm as well as to the metal in her bones where the stabilization rods had been placed, her muscles were adjusting to the stronger bones and could take slightly more strain now, while it did not make her any stronger it did make her much sturdier and not near as prone to broken bones or other skeletal injury. She had begun to grow accustomed to the additional warmth and feeling of the spark the rested alongside her heart, the low hum wasn't even noticeable unless it was reacting to her emotions. Another thing which had been fixed was her eyesight, she no longer needed glasses or contacts at all times, the only time she needed them was when reading.

//"Ironhide, Victoria, what is taking the two of you so long?"\\ Ratchet's voice caused the redhead to jump, she brought her hands to her ears though she knew that didn't help one bit.

//"Damnit Ratch! Not so loud, ya know I'm still getting use to this shit."\\ she sent back over the com, that was what was taking her the most time to get use to, the partial change had also rewired her mind slightly, from what Ratchet had told her it had formed extra, cybertronian, connections throughout her brain, she hadn't learned how to use those connections to their full potential yet but she had learned how to respond to a com once someone else had made a connection and she also learned how to close a connection once it had been opened but she was still working on how to establish a connection to someone else, mostly so she could mess with Ironhide without anyone else knowing about it.

//"My apologies Victoria. Are the two of you on your way back?"\\ Ratchet asked over the com, his voice had lowered a bit thankfully.

//"Yea Ratch, be there in bout fifteen minutes."\\ Ironhide responded for them, for some reason Victoria never had to ask Ironhide to lower his voice over the com, she figured that perhaps it was because she had grown so use to his voice and, as odd as it may seem, she found it comforting. After Ironhide had responded she hear the click in the com that told her he had disconnected and she did the same.

Ironhide looked over at the redhead with a smirk as they made their way down the road. "You shoulda seen how much you jumped." he said with a chuckle.

"Oh shuddup, I'mma get ya back for saying that, jus' you watch." she said to him with a grin. All the worries she had before, of their age, their species difference, their life span difference, she realized now that it had all been such trivial concerns, they had the present, there had been no activity from the decepticons, though Stormflux's body had vanished from the air transport they came home in they hadn't heard anything of the femme or any of the others, for now they had peace and she intended to enjoy it, no matter how short of a time it may last. She moved her hand to Ironhide's holoform's hand and grasped his in her own, giving a firm squeeze only to feel the gesture returned as he looked towards her with a small smile. She smiled in return before leaning towards him, his arm came up to wrap over her shoulders and pull her to him.

This was what made it all worth it, the scars meant nothing, the pain she had felt, the fear on that day three weeks ago, in the face of this moment it meant nothing, this is what she was fighting for, this peace, this life, this future. She looked towards Ironhide, his holoform's blue eyes meeting her hazel ones, she loved that mech even through all the differences and arguments they had, they belonged to each other now and she wouldn't have it any other way.

* * *

They laid there on the floor of the remodeled warehouse, Ironhide resting on his back as the redhead laid on his chest, both of them looking up towards the skylight, Victoria had sold her home in town only about four months after she had turned twenty-four, she had no use for a home where she couldn't lay like this with Ironhide so they had all agreed that the warehouse would be remodeled to suit her and Ironhide's needs. The bedroom now had actual walls instead of dividers though the bedroom was large enough for both of them and she had found that sleeping on the berth that had been put in was actually rather comfortable, when in recharge Ironhide was completely still so there was no risk of him rolling over the wrong way or hurting her while she slept next to him.

Of course there was the weapons storage on one wall of the warehouse and a table for Ironhide to work at when he was messing with new weapon concepts, besides the table were two weapons lockers, one for Ironhide's larger weapons and a smaller one for Victoria's cannon, energon sword and the new version of the sensor disruptor since the original one had never been recovered after the battle, she did of course have her old, traditional swords and weapons as well but they weren't nearly as effective.

She rolled over on Ironhide's chest, moving to lay on her stomach and look to him. "What?" he asked her with a slight smirk.

"Nothing, jus' thinking a bit." she said as she used her arms to pull herself up his chest a little so she could bring a hand down to trace her fingers down his cheek as she heard the hum of his spark grow slightly louder, she couldn't help but smirk a bit at this as she felt the warmth of the spark within her own chest grow as the sound actually became noticeable to her ears. She leaned down, moving to kiss him, though they knew physical interaction was limited without use of his holoform they still did often show affection for each other while Ironhide was active in his true form, he brought his hand up to lightly cup over her as she grew closer.

//"Hey guys! Sam and Mikaela are here! Mind if we come in?"\\ came Bumblebee's voice over the internal com, Victoria had found out long ago that Bumblebee may still not have his vocal processors working but that he could talk over the com since the sound didn't have to go through his vocal processors to be heard.

Victoria paused when she heard Bumblebee's voice, she had grown use to the internal coms by this point and found how to adjust the volume levels so it wasn't blaring in her mind. Ironhide gave a slightly annoyed huff at the com himself, the autobots had gotten into the habit of contacting both of them in most cases since they were almost always together. //"Cmon 'Bee, and thanks for actually asking this time instead of jus' walking in like ya did last time."\\ Victoria sent over the connection.

//"Are you kidding me? It took Ratchet hours to get that dent Ironhide left in my armor out last time I just walked in. I do not want a repeat of that."\\ Bumblebee responded. The redhead gave a small laugh as she looked at Ironhide who was snickering after hearing that. Victoria rolled off Ironhide's chest and onto the floor as the weapons specialist stood to open the door for them. Even with all the changes that had occurred over the last few months one thing seemed to remain constant. People had awful timing when it came to random visits but she wouldn't trade their company for the world, this was her life now, and the autobots, they were her family now.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

_Thank you for those who have reviewed, I am glad you have enjoyed the story. this is the last chapter of this installment, I'm going to take a small break from this storyline before I continue, after all I did finish this fiction in a mere month and a half about, I need a small break to avoid burning myself out. Of course I wanted to bring this part of the story to a close first so I did not leave all of you hanging cause I know all too well how annoying it is to start reading a fic only to find it stops at some random point so I wanted to give some of what I call 'open-ended closure' so to speak._

_You know, I had put up a poll asking if ya'll wanted a sequel but, know what? I'm just going to do one, don't think I need a poll for it. There will be a slight title change so it'll fit the general overview of the whole series. Not sure if I'll be doing only one sequel or multiple, just gonna have to find out. Yes, Victoria has gone through some changes, the allspark is a creator of life after all, able to turn inanimate objects into living ones, the creator of sparks. Also, I know theres a few unanswered questions such as where Stormflux went off to, but I hope they aren't too much of burning questions, don't wanna drive my reader's crazy after all._

_I'd say to give me bout two weeks to a month before expecting part two, be sure if you liked this story to add an author watch so you don't miss the posting of the second part. _

_I hope you all enjoyed and I look forward to continuing to tell you all this story, I read every review so even if I don't reply know that I have seen your review of the story. _

_Till next time ya'll!_


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